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AUTHOR- 


GAGARIN,  J. 


TITLE: 


THE  RUSSIAN 
CLERGY. 


PLA  CE : 


LONDON 


DATE: 


C1872 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 

PRESERVATION  DErAKTMi:-T 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORMTARGm: 


Master  Negative  # 

ai-30oi6r_L-.. 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


947.03 
G122 


Le  clerge  russe. 
Eng.  Makepeace, 

Gagarin,  Ivaai  Sergeevich,   1814-1882. 

The  R\jssian  clergy.     Translated  fran  the 
French  o£  Father  Gagarin,  S,  J.,  by  Ch.  du 
Gard  Makepeace,  M.  A,     London,  Burns  ajid  Gates, 
1872. 

vi  p.,  1  1.,  278  p.     19jcm, 

Contents,— Avtthor* 8  preface  to  the  English 
edition.  —^Translator •  s  preface •  —Introduction* 
—The  vhlte  clergy,— The  black  clergy.— The 
ecclesiastical  schools,— The  bishops,— The 
synod,  ,       . 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


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PHOTOGRAPHIC  SCIENCES  CORPORATION 

770  BASKET  ROAD 

P.O.  BOX  338 

WEBSTER,  NEW  YORK  14580 

(716)  265-1600 


THE  LIBRARIES 


THE  RUSSIAN  CLEHGY. 


STransIatei  from  l^c  d^^^^^  °f 


FATHER  GAGARIN,  S.J. 


BY 


CH.  DU  GARD  MAKEPEACE,  M.A. 

•    :  :  •    •  •  :• :  :••.  t  •. . 


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«   •  ••  •  " 

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LONDON:    BUENS  AND  OATES, 

17, 18  Portman  Street  and  63  Paternoster  Row. 

1872. 


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LONDON : 
X  AND  SONS,  PRINTERS.  PANCRAS  ROAD,  N.W, 


57505D 


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<. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 


TO  THE  ENGLISH  EDITION 


Since  the  following  pages  were  first  written  and  pub- 
lished in  French,  many  attempts  have  been  made  in 
Russia  to  effect  reforms  in  the  clergy,  such  as  the 
abolition  of  caste,  the  improvement  of  schools,  and 
the  granting  to  bishops  and  priests  a  little  more 
independence. 

We  by  no  means  call  in  question  the  good  inten- 
tions that  prompted  these  reforms ;  but  we  must 
remark,  that  some  have  been  decreed  on  paper  with- 
out bringing  about  any  sensible  and  real  change, 
and  the  others  leave  untouched  the  foundations  and 
roots  of  the  evil  we  have  sought  to  disclose.  In 
every  case,  many  years  must  elapse  before  any  change 
can  be  felt  as  their  result.  After  these  reforms, 
the  clergy  is  still  a  caste  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  nation,  and  the  Church  is  still  in  absolute 
dependence  on  the  State.     The  causes  of  this  situa- 


i. 


I        I, 


IT 


author's  preface, 


tion  remain;  we  do  not  see  what  we  have  to  con- 
sider as  changed. 

That  there  may  be  in  Eussia  a  certain  tendency 
to  move  towards  the  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
we  do  not  deny ;   nor  do  we  dispute  that  in  time 
this  tendency  of  men's  minds  may  lead  to  radical 
changes   in  the  mutual   relations   of  the  Russian 
Government  and  the  official  Church ;  but,  hitherto, 
nothing  has  been  done  in  this  direction,  and  this 
unfortunate  Church,  attacked  on  the  one  side  by 
the  Raskol,  and  on  the  other  by  mhilism,  seems, 
notwithstanding  all  appearances  of  prosperity,  des- 
tined speedily  to  perish.     Strangely  should  we  de- 
ceive ourselves  if  we  failed  to  see  that  these  twin 
plagues    of  the  contemporaneous   Russian   Church 
have  developed,  and  continue  to  develop  themselves 
solely  in  consequence  of  the  absorption  of  the  Church 
by  the  State ;  and  until  a  remedy  shall  have  been 
applied  to  this  fundamental  evil,  reformers  will  have 
accomplished  nothing. 


Paris,  AprU  1872. 


I:. 


TKANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 


Having,  at  an  esteemed  friend's  request,  read  the 
original  of  this  work,  Le  Clerge  Russe,  I  concurred 
in  his  opinion  that  the  graphic  picture  it  contained 
of  Russian  ecclesiastical  life  and  organisation  was  so 
instructive,  especially  in  the  present  transition  state 
of  ecclesiastical  thought  and  feeling  in  England,  that 
to  unveil  it  to  English  eyes  would  render  service, 
albeit  but  humble,  to  the  sacred  cause  of  truth  and 

progress. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Author,  whose  work  I  have  trans- 
lated, is  a  living  Catholic  Father  as  well  as  an  his- 
torical writer  of  repute,  I,  a  Protestant,  felt  bound, 
especially  after  being  favoured  with  the  Author's 
consent  to  the  translation,  to  allow  him,  by  a  very 
faithful  rendering  of  the  original,  to  speak  not  only 
as  an  historian,  but  also  as  a  Catholic. 

Two  works  of  merit  have  recently  issued  from  the 
press  in  this  country  treating  on  subjects  closely 
connected  with  that  of  this  work ;  and  from  the 
pens  of  writers  whose  careful  observation  and  wide 


I 
I 

f: 


If  .= 


% 


VI 


TRANSLATOR  S  PREFACE. 


research  invest  their  works  with  interest  and  entitle 
them  to  authority. 

The  one  is,  The  Patriarch  and  the  Tsar, — The 
Replies  of  the  humble  Xicon,  by  the  mercy  of  God 
Patriarch  (of  Moscow).  &c.  (London,  Triibner,  1871), 
in  which  the  Author,  W.  Palmer,  M.A.,  of  Magda- 
len College,  Oxford,  specially  vindicates  the  charac- 
ter of  the  most  eminent  among  the  sufferers  for 
spiritual  independence  in  Russia.  The  other,  The 
Pope  of  Rome  and  the  Popes  of  the  Oriental  Ortho- 
dox Church  (London,  Longmans,  1871),  in  which 
the  Eev.  Father  Tondini,  Barnabite,  so  conclu- 
sively demonstrates  the  enslavement  of  the  Russian 
episcopate,  and  so  clearly  traces  it  to  its  source, 
the  will  of  the  autocrat,  as  surely  to  deter  all  x\n- 
glicans  from  looking  for  union  eastwards. 

That,  with  these  two,  the  present  work,  by 
widening  the  field  of  facts  to  the  eye  of  the  ob- 
serving, may  contribute  to  correct  errors  inherited 
from  the  past,  and  to  form  universally  sounder 
principles  of  ecclesiastical  polity  in  the  future,  is 
the  earnest  wish  doubtless  of  the  Author,  and  cer- 
tainly of  the 


Translator. 


London,  April  3,  1872. 


CONTENTS. 


Author's  Preface  to  the  English  Edition 

Translator's  Preface 

Introduction 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  White  Clergy      .... 


CHAPTER  11. 


The  Black  Clergy 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Ecclesiastical  Schools 


CHAPTER  IV. 


The  Bishops 


CHAPTER  V- 


The  Synod  . 


PAGE 

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THE  RUSSIAN  CLERGY. 


INTEODUCTION. 


The  accession  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  II. 
to  the  throne  of  Kussia  inaugurated  a  new  era 
for  that  vast  empire.  Since  that  event  the  serfs 
have  been  emancipated;    the  introduction  of 
trial  by  jury  with  an  oral  and  public  procedure 
has  completely  reorganised  the  administration 
of  justice;  and  territorial  institutions  have  laid 
the  first  foundations  of  self-government.    With 
these  important  and  salutary  reforms,  however, 
we  have  not  to  be  occupied.     We  confine  our- 
selves to  a  single  observation.     Those  inveter- 
ate abuses  could  not  be  touched  without  the 
discovery  of  others,  and  reforms  already  effected 
could  not  but  open  the  path  to  new  ones.  Among 
those  yet  to  be  accomplished,  one  of  the  most 
important  concerns  the  clergy  and  the  organisa- 

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2  Introduction, 

tion  of  the  Eussian  Church.    During  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  [N'icholas  public  opinion  was 
little  interested  in  the  situation  of  the  clergy. 
In  connection  with  it  many  abuses  were  known 
to  exist,  but  their  correction  seemed  to  be  a 
matter  of  little  importance.     For  some  thirty 
years  M.  Andre  Mouravieff  alone  devoted  his 
pen  to  this  subject ;  but  his  chief  object  was  to 
throw  a  veil  over  disorders  unfortunately  too 
real:    he    denied  the    abuses,    not   combated 
them.     It  is  not  so  now.     The  laity,  through 
the  press,  are  allowed  to  make  frequent  attacks 
more  or  less  clear  and  direct  against  the  Eus- 
sian clergy,  and  the  latter  reply.     A  consider- 
able number  of  journals  and  ecclesiastical  re- 
views exist,   the  chief  work   of  which  is  to 
defend  the  clergy,  but  which,  however,  from 
time  to  time  call  loudly  for  reform.    This  pub- 
licity is  quite  insufficient,  because  of  the  very 
narrow  limits  imposed  on  the  liberty  of  the 
press.    When  a  question  arises  of  abuses  exist- 
ing in  the  administrative  order,  a  sufficiently 
gi-eat  latitude  is  accorded  to  the  journals.     By 
the  aid  of  rhetorical  precautions  they  were  re- 
cently able  to  make  a  breach  in  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  Christianity  and  of  social 
order;    but  were   checked  when  their  efforts 
were  directed  against  the  clergy  and  church 
organisation.    Everything  touching  on  matters 


Introduction.  3 

of  this  kind  being  subjected  to  ecclesiastical 
censure,   it  is  almost  impossible  to  carry  on 
discussion  on  this  ground.     In  this  embarrass- 
ment recourse  was  had  to  the  foreign  press.  In 
1858  a  very  remarkable  pamphlet  was  pub- 
lished at  Paris  on  the  condition  of  the  country 
clergy  of  Eussia.*    It  contained  harrowing  de- 
tails on  the  abuses  existing  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  dioceses,  and  in  the  establishments 
for  the  education  and  formation  of  the  clergy. 
This  pamphlet  produced  in  Eussia  a  prodigious 
effect.     Although  its  author  took  care  to  con- 
ceal his  name,  it  was  soon  known  that  he  was 
a  poor  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Tver,  named 
Belustin.     The  Synod  was  much  irritated,  and 
about  to  make  the  unfortunate  writer  feel  the 
weight  of  its  anger,  when  the  intervention  of 
l^L  Bajanoff,  the  Emperor's  confessor,  sheltered 
him  from  all  persecution. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  this  pubHcation 
had  some  influence  on  a  decision  taken  by  the 
Synod  at  the  beginning  of  1859.  By  the  organ 
of  the  Chief  Procurator  of  the  Synodf  all  the 
bishops  were  invited  to  send  to  this  assembly 
their  opinion  on  the  condition  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal schools,  and  the  means  of  improving  them. 

*  Onncauie  cciLcicaro  ^Jxcbchctbu— pjccKiii  sarpauirmbifi  COopHHKi, 
iv.     Paris,  Frank,  1858. 

t  See,  for  the  functions  of  the  Chief  Procurator,  farther  on> 
chap.  V. 


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4  Introduction. 

The  bishops  requested  the  advice  of  the  rectors 
and  superiors  of  the  seminaries :  these  con- 
sulted the  directors  and  professors  ;  the  result 
was  a  vast  inquiry,  which  in  a  few  months 
placed  the  Synod  in  possession  of  a  voluminous 
correspondence.  A  special  commission  was  ap- 
pointed to  sift  it,  and  to  draw  up  a  scheme  of 
regulation  for  the  seminaries.  This  was  laid 
aside,  we  know  not  why,  and  replaced  by  an- 
other commission  composed  of  two  rectors,  four 
secular  priests,  and  two  laymen,  imder  the 
presidency  of  a  member  of  the  episcopate. 

In  1862  this  commission  presented  to  the 
Synod  its  scheme,  which  was  printed  in  1863, 
with  the  objections  made  by  the  two  laymen, 
the  proces  verbaux  of  the  commission,  and  se- 
veral other  papers.     The  whole  work  was  sent 
to  the  bishops,  who  were  obliged  to  open  a 
new  inquiiy.     Meanwhile,  there  appeared  at 
Leipsic   anonymously   another    work,    on  the 
condition  of  the   clerical  schools  in  Eussia.* 
From  day  to  day  the  ecclesiastical  question 
filled  a  larger  place  in  the  attention  of  the 
public  and  of  the  government ;  and  on  the  28th 
of  June  1862  the  Emperor  caused  a  proposal 
to  be  made  in  the  Synod  for  an  inquiry  as  to 
the  means  of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the 

*  0<5t.  ycTpoiicTBt  ^yxoEHbixi  yHn.inqi  vh  poccIh.    Leipzig,  Wag- 
ner, 1863.    8vo. 


m 


Intivduction. 


clergy.  A  new  commission  was  appointed, 
under  the  presidency  of  the  Metropolitan  of  St. 
Petersburg.  It  was  composed  of  all  the  mem- 
bers  of  the  Synod,  the  ministers  of  the  Interior, 
of  the  Domains,  and  of  Police,  of  the  Chief 
Procurator  of  the  Synod,  and  the  Director-Ge- 
neral of  the  Ecclesiastical  Schools,  Prince  Our- 
oussoff,  to  whom  were  joined  Count  de  Tolstoy, 
the  Chamberlain  Batuchkoff,  and  M.  Demon- 
tovig. 

On  January  I7th,  1863,  a  paper  of  ques- 
tions was  addressed  to  the  bishops.  In  April 
of  the  same  year  sub-commissions  were  formed 
in  each  diocese,  composed  of  the  diocesan,  the 
Provincial  Governor,  and  the  Director  of  Do- 
mains. These  sub-commissions  addressed  them- 
selves, it  may  be  said,  to  everybody  for  infor- 
mation ;  and  the  result  was  the  creation  in  1864 
for  each  parish  of  a  species  of  churchwarden 
committee,  which  were  also  bound  to  seek  the 
means  for  improving  the  condition  of  the  clergy, 
i.e.  for  augmenting  their  incomes. 

We  will  not  examine  if  the  wide  scope 
given  to  this  inquiry  did  not  conceal  the  intent 
to  mar  the  work  of  reform.  It  is  quite  cer- 
tain that  this  great  question  was  set  down  in 
the  orders  for  the  day^  and  the  government 
itself  allowed  that  something  must  be  done. 
The  Press  was  thereby  encouraged,   and  set 


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6  Introduction. 

itself  more  vigorously  to  point  out  the  abuses 
it  noticed  in  the  clergy  and  in  their  schoulb. 
To  these  attacks  replies  came  from  different 
quarters,  but  seem  to  have  produced  but  little 

effect. 

If  one  compares  the  course  adopted  by  the 
Eussian  govemmentj  when  it  took  in  hand  the 
emancipation  of  the  peasantry,  and  that  which 
it  pursues  on  the  present  question,  there  will 
be  no  difficulty  in  becoming  convinced  that 
this  double  inquiry  into  the  situation  of  the 
clergy  and  the  ecclesiastical  schools,  must  ter- 
minate in  results  much  more  important  than 
one  would  at  first  sight  suppose.  There  is 
among  the  Eussian  clergy  such  a  mass  of 
abuses,  and  these  so  interlaced  one  with  an- 
other, that  the  subject  cannot  be  touched  with- 
out revealing  the  necessity  of  a  radical  reform, 
and  of  a  new  organisation  in  the  Church  itself. 
The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  establish  the 
existence  of  the  evil,  then  to  find  the  remedy, 
and  to  apply  it.  "Without  doubt  this  question 
bristles  with  difficulties  far  otherwise  serious 
than  all  those  which  the  government  has 
hitherto  undertaken  to  resolve:  but  on  the 
other  hand,  the  necessity  of  destroying  the 
abuses  and  effecting  reforms  is  so  evident  that 
it  is  impossible  to  draw  back.  It  must  there- 
fore be  admitted  that  reform  will  take  place ; 


I 


hitroduction.  7 

but  how,  and  by  whom,  will  it  be  brought 
about  ?  Will  the  Eussian  Church  be  left  to 
achieve  this  great  work  herself, — will  she  be 
allowed  to  assemble  in  council,  or  rather,  will 
the  government  take  it  in  hand  ? 

'Tis  very  natural  that  the  Eussian  clergy 
should  display  little  eagerness  to  allow  them- 
selves to  be  reformed  by  the  civil  power,  and 
it  is  not  for  us  to  reproach  them ;  but  we  must 
say  that  the  resistance  they  can  oppose  is  by 
no  means  formidable.  The  government,  herein 
agreeing  with  public  opinion,  seems  convinced 
that  reform  would  not  take  place  if  the  task  of 
effecting  it  were  abandoned  to  the  clergy.  The 
efforts  which  the  Synod  or  the  bishops  would 
make  to  be  intrusted  with  this  task  would  be 
considered  only  as  a  means  of  shelving  the 
question.  Besides,  the  Eussian  clergy  have 
not  strength  enough  to  contend  with  the  go- 
vernment. Long  ago  it  renounced  all  power 
of  originating  action,  and  abdicated  all  inde- 
pendence. Of  the  numerous  causes  of  its  weak- 
ness there  is  one  which  it  concerns  us  to  point 
out. 

The  Eussian  clergy  is  divided;  in  its  bosom 
are  two  parties  hostile  the  one  to  the  other; 
the  secular,  and  the  regular  clergy.  The  latter 
body,  which  consists  exclusively  of  the  monks 
of  St.  Basil,  is  in  Eussia  vulgarly  designated 


t 


8 


Introduction. 


i 


I  n 


k 


the  Black  clergy*  probably  because  it  alone 
uniformly  wears  vestments  of  that  colour.  By 
opposition  the  secular  clergy  are  called  the 
White  clenjy,^  These  designations  being  short 
and  expressive,  we  deem  it  expedient  to  adopt 

them. 

The  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  reveals 
traces  of  a  rivalry  between  the  secular  and 
regular  clergy;  but  this  in  its  most  lively 
manifestations  cannot  be  compared  with  the 
profound  hatred  with  which  the  secular  clergy 
of  Eussia  regard  the  regular.  This  state  of 
things  is  due  to  several  causes.  Let  us  first 
point  to  the  publication  of  an  important  work 
which  treats  on  this  question  ex  professo. 

There  has  just  appeared  at  Leipsic,  in  the 
Eussian  language,  a  book  entitled.  Of  the 
White  and  Black  Clergy  of  Bussia.X  The  au- 
thor, who  has  not  deemed  it  expedient  to  pub- 
lish his  name,  shows  himself  the  violent  enemy 
of  the  Black  clergy.  It  is  true  that  he  is  not 
very  tender  towards  the  White  clergy;  that  he 
unveils  many  grave  abuses,  the  reform  of 
which  he  energetically  demands.  But  in  act- 
ing thus,  he  does  not  show  himself  the  enemy 
of  these,  and  indeed  'tis  their  cause  he  pro- 

♦  'lepHoe  AJxoBeiicTBO.  f  ^*-^^  jjiobchctbo. 

J  0  npaBOc.iaBHOMi  6t.iOMi  n  nepnoMi  ^yxoBoncTBt  bi  pocciii.  Leip- 
zig, Wagner,  186G. 


Introduction. 


'J 


fesses  to  serve.  The  book  is  at  once  a  rude 
attack  on  the  Black  clergy;,  and  a  programme 
of  the  reforms  wished  1>y  the  White.  It  is 
impossible  for  us  to  adopt  the  point  of  view  of 
this  anonymous  writer ;  but  his  work  contains 
revelations  so  curious  and  important,  it  touches 
almost  all  sides  of  the  question  with  so  much 
vigour,  that  one  reads  it  with  the  liveliest  in- 
terest. 

The  situation  of  the  Eussian  clergy  being 
but  imperfectly  kno^vn  out  of  Eussia,  we  have 
thought  it  expedient  to  profit  by  this  publica- 
tion in  calling  the  attention  of  our  readers  to 
this  subject.  Moreover,  it  seemed  to  us  to 
belong  to  a  Catholic  pen  to  correct  the  errone- 
ous ideas  of  the  author,  to  indicate  the  real 
causes  of  the  abuses,  and  the  path  in  which 
must  be  sought  the  solution  of  the  problem. 

For  the  sake  of  order  we  will  successively 
treat — 1st,  of  the  White  clergy;  2d,  of  the 
Black  clergy ;  3d,  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Schools; 
4th,  of  the  Episcopate ;  and  5th,  of  the  Go- 
vernment of  the  Church. 


B 


,5  ■• 


CHAPTEE  I. 


:t 


THE  WHITE  CLERGY. 

Ix  the  Latin  Church  celibacy  is  obligatory 
on  all  clerks  in  Holy  Orders,  beginning  with 
the  subdeacons.  In  the  East  a  less  rigorous 
discipline  has  long  prevailed.  There,  as  in  the 
Latin  Church,*  once  let  a  man  enter  Holy 
OrdeiB,  he  can  no  longer  marry ;  the  Sacrament 
of  the  Order  is  an  impediment  dirimant  to 
maiTiagef  in  the  East  as  well  as  in  the  West. 
But  if  a  married  man  present  himself  for  ordi- 
nation he  is  not  rejected,  and  is  permitted  to 
keep  his  wife.  This  custom  is  so  rooted  in 
Eastern  manners,  that  when  Eastern  Churches 

*  The  Orders  of  the  Roman  Church,  unlike  those  of  the  Eng- 
lish, are  divided  into  Major  and  Minor;  the  latter  embracing  the 
Acolytus,  Ostiarius  (the  door-keeper),  Lector  (reader),  and  Exor- 
cista  (exerciser).  The  Major  include  the  subdeacon,  deacon,  and 
priest  with  bishop.  These  last  form  the  different  degrees  of  the 
Sacrament  of  Order,  are  called  holy,  and  cannot  be  repeated. 
Obligatory  celibacy  applies  from  the  subdeacon  upwards.  (Trans.) 
'  t  The  impedimenta  to  marriage  are,  in  the  language  of  the 
canon  law,  either  impedientia  or  dirlmentia.  The  former  are  those 
circumstances  that  make  the  marriage  unlawful,  but  which,  when 
it  has  been  contracted,  do  not  affect  its  validity ;  the  latter  are 
those  which  render  the  marriage  not  only  unlawful,  but  invalid. 


Chap.  I. 


TJie  White  Clergy. 


11 


have  reentered  the  communion  of  the  Catholic 
Church  and  recognised  the  authority  of  the 
Pope,  the  Holy  See  has  not  exacted  from  them 
co^formity  to  the  ecclesiastical  law  of  celibacy. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  this  condescension  to 
ancient  customs  involves  any  serious  incon- 
veniences. I  have  seen  close  at  hand  Mji'iiw 
nite  priests,  who  are  generally  married ;  it  is 
not  rare  to  find  among  them  virtuous  men,  ex- 
cellent Christians,  and  even  very  good  priests. 
But  it  is  certain  that  the  population  of  the 
Lebanon  is  found  amid  conditions  quite  ex- 
ceptional. The  inhabitants  of  a  Maronite  vil- 
lage would  not  understand  a  cure  not  being 
chosen  by  themselves,  and  would  have  much 
difficulty  in  taking  as  cure  a  stranger  to  their 
village.  When  the  cure  is  vacant,  they  as- 
semble, and  make  choice  of  some  peasant,  some 
good  father  of  a  family,  a  good  Christian,  who 
has  probably  never  dreamt  of  being  clothed 
with  an  ecclesiastical  status.  They  present 
him  to  the  bishop,  and  if  the  testimonies  in  his 
behalf  are  satisfactory,  if  he  can  read  the  Syriac 
characters,  he  is  sent  to  pass  three  weeks  in  a 
convent.     He  there  learns  to  say  mass,  to  ad- 


The  union  of  a  Catholic  with  a  non- Catholic  Christian,  without 
previous  dispensation,  is  an  instance  of  the  former  (impedientia)  ; 
the  union  of  persons  within  the  second  degree  of  consanguinity  is 
an  instance  of  the  latter  (dirlmentia),    (Trans,) 


i 


S 


h 
■I 


12 


The  Wldte  Clergy. 


Cbap.  I. 


\-i 


I 


t 


minister  the  sacraments ;  and  when  deemed  just 
sufficiently  instructed,  is  ordained,  and  returns 
to  his  village  to  take  possession  of  his  cure. 

Amid  these  populations,  simple  and  full  of 
faith,  such  an  organisation  is  possible ;  perhaps, 
considering  the  state  of  the  country,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  substitute  a  better.  In  other 
circumstances  this  Avould  be  manifestly  dif- 
ferent. We  shall  presently  see  that  the  orga- 
nisation of  the  married  clergy  of  Kussia  has  no 
resemblance  whatever  to  that  we  have  just 
sketched.  Among  the  Maronites  themselves 
circumstances  are  being  modified,  and  in  pro- 
portion as  the  people  lose  their  simplicity,  it 
becomes  a  necessity  to  reduce  the  number  of 
married  priests.  The  bishops,  doubtless,  some- 
times have  trouble  in  resisting  the  pressing 
applications  made  to  them ;  but,  in  many  cases, 
it  is  necessary  to  know  how  to  oppose  an  un- 
shakeable  firmness  to  all  solicitation. 

From  what  we  have  just  said,  it  results 
that,  in  given  circumstances,  priests  being 
fathers  of  families  can  indeed  administer  the 
sacraments  of  baptism  and  marriage,  conduct 
burials,  celebrate  the  holy  mass,  chant  the 
offices,  and  hear  a  certain  number  of  confes- 
sions, especially  at  Easter.  But  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  understand  that,  absorbed  by  the  care 
of  their  households,    by   the    education   and 


\ 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy. 


X  O 


settlement  of  their  children,  they  do  not  bring 
to  the  exercise  of  their  sacred  ministry  the 
same  zeal,  devotion,  and  self-denial  as  those 
priests  who  are  free  from  such  cares.  Take, 
for  example,  the  case  of  hearing  the  confession 
of  a  person  dying  of  some  contagious  disease  : 
the  priest  celibate  will  go,  as  a  soldier  goes 
to  meet  fire  ;  but  the  father  of  a  family — will 
he  always  have  the  courage  to  expose  the  lives 
of  his  children  ?  Nay,  we  ought  not  to  expect 
to  find  in  a  married  priest  the  same  disinter- 
estedness as  in  a  celibate  priest.  A  man  will 
much  more  easily  encounter  privations  when 
he  alone  will  be  the  sufferer,  than  when  he 
must  impose  them  on  all  those  who  are  dearest 
to  him. 

To  go  no  farther,  it  is  evident  that  a 
Church  with  no  other  clergy  than  married 
priests  would  present  a  gap,  and  would  not  be 
in  a  normal  condition.  Even  in  all  the  Eastern 
Churches,  side  by  side  with  the  married  are 
found  unmarried  clergy — the  monks.  It  seems 
to  be  admitted  in  these  countries  that,  with 
exceptions  more  or  less  frequent,  a  celibate 
priest,  that  he  may  not  be  exposed  to  deplor- 
able falls,  needs  to  be  surrounded  by  all  the 
aids  the  religious  life  affords;  we  mean,  the 
probation  of  the  novitiate,  the  saliitar}  )  oke 
of  vows,  the  observance  of  rules,  the  monastic 


•1 


! 
}  :»! 


is 

r 


14 


The  White  Clergy, 


Cliap.  I. 


i 


i4fi 


I'M 


I! 

m 


p 


III 


life,  the  vigilance  of  superiors,  and  the  most 
multiplied  exercises  of  piety.  There  are,  then, 
in  the  East,  as  in  the  West,  two  orders  of 
clergy;  the  one  secular,  the  other  regular.  In 
the  Latin  Church  both  are  bound  by  the  law 
of  celibacy ;  in  the  Oriental  the  secular  clergy 
arc  in  general  mamed,  and  with  few  excep- 
tions all  the  celibate  priests  make  profession  of 
the  religious  life  at  the  same  time. 

One  very  important  consequence  of  this 
organisation  is,  that,  in  the  East,  most,  if  not 
all,  of  the  bishops  are  drawn  from  the  regular 
clergy.  Following  the  discipline  universally 
admitted  in  the  Eastern  as  in  the  Western 
Church,  the  bishops  are  bound  to  celibacy.  If, 
then,  the  clergy  are  married,  the  bishops  must 
be  taken  from  among  the  monks. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  this  organisa- 
tion gives  to  the  regular  clergy  in  the  Eastern 
Church  a  preponderating  influence  and  author- 
ity ;  by  the  very  force  of  things,  the  secular 
clergy  is,  with  regard  to  the  regular,  in  an 
inferior  and  subordinate  position.  Let  us  not 
forget  the  fundamental  cause — the  root  of  their 
inferiority — their  marriage. 

Let  us  return  to  the  Eussian  Church.  In 
it  the  distinction  between  the  two  classes  of 
clergy,  the  Black  and  the  White  (regular  and 
secular),  has  always  existed;  but  we  do  not 


m 


Chap.  I. 


Tlie  White  Clergy, 


15 


see  that  in  the  past  there  has  boon  any  strife 
between  these  classes.  This  fact  is  easily 
accounted  for.  The  situation  of  the  White 
clergy  had  formerly  in  Eussia  more  than  one 
feature  of  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Maronite 
clergy,  as  above  sketched.  All  instruction,  in- 
telligence, and  vitality  in  the  clergy  belonged 
to  the  monks.  The  married  clergy  had  no 
kind  of  study;  the  accomplishment  of  their 
functions,  the  care  of  their  households,  and 
the  necessities  of  life,  w^holly  absorbed  them ; 
it  never  even  entered  their  minds  to  contest 
any  matter  with  the  monks,  w^lio  ruled  every- 
wdiere.  The  anonymous  author  of  the  book 
On  the  White  and  Black  Clergy  has  vainly  la- 
boured to  discover,  before  the  creation  of  the 
Synod,  traces  of  the  hostility  by  which  these 
two  clerical  classes  are  to-day  mutually  ani- 
mated. All  he  has  been  able  to  cite  are  one 
or  two  insignificant  facts. 

But  the  condition  of  the  Eussian  Church 
is  no  longer  what  it  was  in  the  time  of  the 
old  tsars.  Peter  I.  did  not  confine  himself  to 
suppressing  the  Patriarchate  and  rei)lacing  it 
by  the  Synod.  He  overturned  the  organisation 
of  the  Church  to  its  foundations ;  he  eff'ected 
in  it  a  true  revolution.^    His  successors  have 

♦  On  the  liability  of  the  Russian  Church  to  revolutions,  see 
chap.  iii.  of  Tondini's  The  Pope  of  Rome  and  the  Popes,  kQ,  {lyans.^ 


I 


1        - 

[t   i 


♦I  I 


16 


The  White  Clergy. 


Cliap.  I. 


continued  his  work ;  the  old  canonical  law  has 
been  swept  away  by  the  Spiritual  Regulation* 
and  the  old  customs  by  a  multitude  of  ukases. 
Neither  the  government  of  the  dioceses,  nor 
the  mode  of  collation  to  bishoprics  and  cures, 
nor  the  conditions  of  the  monastic  life,  nor 
theological  instruction,— nothing  escaped  the 
blind  brusque  rage  for  reform  which  planted 
more  abuses  than  it  uprooted.     In  the  midst 
of  so  many  subversions,  the  situation  of  the 
White  clergy  could  not  fail  to  be  profoundly 
altered.     So,  indeed,  it  happened.     It  under- 
went a  radical  transformation.     From  all  time 
there  had  been  in  Eussia  priests  who  were 
married  and  had  families ;  but  their  children 
were  perfectly  free  not  to  embrace  the  eccle- 
siastical state,  and  the  clergy  were  recruited 
from  all  classes  of  society.     To-day  the  son  of 
a  priest  or  deacon  is  destined  by  his  birth  to 
enter  the  clerical  ranks;  it  is  an  obligation 
from  which  he  is  not  permitted  to  withdraw 
himself.     The  son  of  a  nobleman,  of  a  mer- 
chant, of  a  citizen,  of  a  peasant,  who  wished 
to  be  admitted  to  Holy  Orders,  would  meet 
with  insurmountable  obstacles,  t 

It  is  this  strange  and  deplorable  state  of 

♦  On  the  *  Spiritual  Regulation'  an  interesting  analysis  is  given 
farther  on,  at  chap.  v. 

f  This  applies  only  to  the  White  clergy. 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy. 


17 


m 


things  which  the  Moscow  Gazette*  lately  desig- 
nated as  '  Leviteism,'  and  which  it  pointed  out 
as  one  of  the  plagues  of  the  Eussian  Church. 
Nothing  is  more  true.  Peter  I.  and  his  suc- 
cessors, with  the  complicity  of  the  Synod,  made 
of  the  clergy  an  hereditary  and  close  corpora- 
tion— a  caste.  It  is  allowable  to  suppose  that 
they  did  not  propose  to  themselves  such  a  re- 
sult ;  but  still  it  is  necessary  to  see  by  what 
series  of  measures,  by  what  chain  of  usurpa- 
tions and  iniquities,  they  arrived  at  it. 

The  creation  of  seminaries  was  the  first 
cause  of  it.  The  ignorance  of  the  clergy  be- 
ing complained  of,  a  decree  was  issued  for  the 
founding  of  ecclesiastical  schools.  These  re- 
mained deserted.  The  clergy  were  then  ordered 
to  send  their  children  there  ;  and  as  these  did 
not  go  by  any  means  willingly,  they  were  taken 
there  by  force — sometimes  even  loaded  with 
chains.  Here  we  see  an  application  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  gratuitous  and  compulsory  instruction. 

The  ukases  of  Alexander  I.,  pubKshed  in 
1808  and  1814,  declare  that  all  the  children 
of  clerks,  from  the  age  of  six  years  to  eight, 
are  at  the  disposition  of  the  Ecclesiastical  ^ciiuui 
department.*!" 

*  MocKCOBCKifl  BtAOMOCTii  (dally  newspaper  published  at  Moscow, 
the  chief  editor  of  which  is  the  celebrated  Mr.  Katkoff). 
f  0  npaooci.  Ofe.i.  ii  'lepn.  ^yxoB,  torn.  ii.  p.  355. 


■ri 
ft- 


I 


* 


si 


18 


The  White  Clergrj. 


Chap.  I. 


At  the  same  period  military  colonies  were 
organised,  and  the  chikben  of  soldiers  were 
incorporated  with  the  army  under  the  name 
of  Cantonists.  It  was  a  veritable  application 
of  serfdom.  If  peasants  were  attached  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil,  the  offspring  of  priests 
and  deacons  could  well  be  so  to  the  service  of 
the  altar.  "When  once  the  Synod  or  the  State 
had  been  at  the  expense  of  the  children's  edu- 
cation, it  seemed  just  that  they  should  wish 
to  be  indemnified  for  it.  The  seminarists  had 
no  other  prospect  than  that  of  entering  the 
ecclesiastical  state.  In  order  to  pursue  any 
other  career,  they  needed  a  special  permission, 
which  was  very  difficult  to  obtain,  and  almost 
always  refused. 

When  by  this  means  a  number  of  eccle- 
siastics in  proportion  to  the  disposable  places 
was  secured,  it  would  seem  that  the  prevail- 
ing rigour  could  have  been  relaxed.  Nothing 
of  the  kind ;  but,  in  order  to  put  the  children 
of  the  clergy  in  safety  from  an  unpleasant 
competition,  obstacles  were  multiplied  to  other 
classes  of  society  gaining  access  to  the  sanc- 
tuary. In  this  way  the  creation  of  an  here- 
ditary clergy  was  in  a  very  short  time  suc- 
cessful. The  sovereigns  decreed  these  things, 
their  ministers  proposed  them,  the  members 
of  the  Synod  sanctioned  them,  and  the  bishops 


h 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy, 


|3| 


19 


Hitherto  we  have  met  with  nothing 


witnessed  them,  but  said  nothing.  We  should 
be  glad  to  find  in  history  any  trace  of  a  pro- 
test, to  catch  the  cry  of  one  indignant  con- 
science, 
of  the  sort. 

This  is  not  all :  marriage  before  ordination 
was  licensed ;  it  was  now  made  obligatory.  It 
seems,  at  least,  that  the  seminarist,  obliged  to 
be  married  before  receiving  Holy  Orders,  must 
be  free  to  choose  his  companion.  But  priests 
and  deacons  have  daughters  for  whom  settle- 
ments must  be  found :  hence  arose  a  prohi- 
bition from  marrying  out  of  the  caste.  There 
are  some  bishops  who  even  do  not  tolerate 
their  clergy  marrying  out  of  their  diocesan 
clergy. 

The  principle  of  inheritance  once  laid  down, 
its  consequences  flow  spontaneously.  For  ex- 
ample, here  is  a  country  cure  who  has  built  a 
house  on  land  belonging  to  the  Church.  He 
dies.  His  successor  wishes  to  take  possession 
of  the  parsonage ;  but  the  son  or  daughter  of 
the  deceased  claims  the  house,  which  form.s 
part  of  his  inheritance,  and  a  law-suit  follows. 
The  case  has  presented  itself  more  than  once ; 
the  legislator  has  interfered ;  and,  to  reconcile 
the  interests  in  conflict,  an  ukase  of  January 
22d,  1768,  permitted  the  diocesan  authority 
to  assure  the  vacant  cure  to  him  who  shall 


20 


The  WJtite  Clergy. 


Cliap.  I. 


i 


espouse  the  hairess  of  the  deceased  priest,  or 
to  reserve  it  for  the  son  yet  under  age.  iiere, 
then,  is  inheritance  as  applied  to  the  collation 
to  cures ;  here  is  seen  how  the  body  of  legis- 
lative enactments  issued  by  Catherine  II.  and 
Alexander  1.  ended  in  making  of  the  clergy 
an  actual  close  corporation,  an  hereditary  caste. 
Can  one,  after  this,  speak  of  a  vocation  ?  Can 
one  expect  that,  in  a  clergy  recruited  in  this 
fashion,  thero  will  be  many  priests  penetrated 
with  the  sacredness  of  their  status,  acquitting 
themselves  of  their  duties  with  devotion,  zeal, 
and  self-denial?  It  is  a  trade,  and,  more- 
over, a  trade  which  has  not  been  freely  chosen. 
Good  reason  has  M.  Katkoff  to  ask  for  the 
destruction  of  Leviteism ! 

There  is  in  Eussia  a  sect  called  I^'ihilists, 
who  deny  everything  and  believe  nothing.  The 
existence  of  God,  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
the  future  state,  the  fundamental  bases  of  so- 
ciety, marriage,  property — they  reject  every- 
thing. Nihilism  is  rapidly  spreading  in  the 
universities ;  but  if  we  may  believe  the  3foS' 
cow  Gazette^  it  has  committed  still  greater  rav- 
ages in  the  seminaries.  Can  any  one  figure  to 
himself  a  Nihilist  clothed  with  the  sacerdotal 
character?  We  well  know  that  these  gentle- 
men have  a  profound  aversion  to  the  ecclesias- 
tical state,  and  that  in  presence  of  their  ener- 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy, 


21 


getic  remonstrances  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  allow  them  to  embrace  another  profession. 

Crowds  of  young  persons  are  also  now  seen 
deserting  the  seminaries  and  academies  for 
the  benches  of  universities,  or  to  enter  on  the 
career  of  instruction.  But  is  not  this  fact  it- 
self a  clear  proof  of  something  vicious  in  the 
hereditary  organisation  of  the  Eussian  clergy  ^ 

The  hatred  of  the  IJTiite  clergy  for  the 
Black  dates  from  the  day  when  it  became  a 
caste.  The  frequenting  the  seminaries  con- 
tributed much  of  it ;  but  this  feeling  was  de- 
veloped 2)ari  passu  with  their  esi^rit  de  corps. 
Besides  the  diocesan  seminaries,  there  are  in 
the  Eussian  Church  at  Petersburg,  Moscow, 
Kieff,  and  Kasan,  what  are  called  ecclesiastical 
academies.  These  are  houses  for  high  studies, 
kinds  of  Faculties  of  Theology.  Hither  are 
sent  the  best  scholars  from  all  the  seminaries, 
and  hence  issue  forth  the  elite  of  the  whole 
clergy.  Usually,  the  youths  arrive  there  with- 
out having  taken  on  themselves  any  engage- 
ment ;  but,  in  the  course  of  their  studies,  and 
especially  in  the  last  year,  there  are  a  certain 
number  of  them  who  adopt  the  religious  habit. 
These  see  the  path  to  ecclesiastical  honours 
open  at  once  before  them.  On  leaving  the 
academy,  they  rarely  fail  to  be  at  once  nomi- 
nated prefects  of  studies  in  a  seminary ;  they 


22 


The  White  Clergy. 


Cliap.  I. 


afterwards  become  superiors,  rectors,  priors, 
archimandrites,  bishops.  Those  of  their  fel- 
low-students who  preferred  to  marry  and  re- 
main among  the  secular  clergy,  can  aspire  to 
no  such  advancement.  They  have  before  them 
no  other  future  than  the  hope  of  obtaining  a 
cure,  or  rather  of  becoming  embassy  chaplains. 
The  number  of  these  latter,  however,  is  very 
limited. 

It  remains,  then,  that,  with  very  rare  ex- 
ceptions, power,  fortune,  honourable  distinc- 
tions, are  on  the  side  of  the  monastic  habit. 
The  pupils  of  the  academy  who  have  preferred 
to  be  married  soon  find  themselves  burdened 
with  a  numerous  family ;  their  incomes  are  in- 
sufficient, and  they  have  little  hope  of  improv- 
ing their  position.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
diocesan  government  in  Eussia  is,  it  is  true, 
confided  to  the  bishops ;  but  these  exercise 
their  authority  only  through  the  medium  of 
a  venal  and  teasing  bureaucijiicy,  from  which 
the  cures  have  much  to  suffer.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  at  all  astonishing  that  the  rivalry 
begun  on  the  benches  at  school  should  do 
naught  but  grow. 

It  is  not  only  rivalry  and  jealousy  which 
separate  the  two  classes  of  the  clergy;  there 
is  a  sufficiently  great  difference  in  their  modes 
of  viewing  things. 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy. 


23 


If  one  said  that  the  White  clergy  have 
Protestant  tendencies,  and  the  Black  clergy 
Eoman,  he  would  not  express  himself  exactly ; 
but,  in  comparing  the  Eussian  Church  to  the 
Anglican,  one  would  say  that  the  White  clergy 
somewhat  resemble  the  low- church,  and  the 
Black  the  high-church  party.  The  former  has 
a  Presbyterian  cast,  whilst  the  latter  defends 
the  rights  of  the  hierarchy. 

What  we  have  just  advanced  can  give  an 
idea  of  the  war  these  two  classes  are  waging. 
The  Black  clergy  seems  master  of  all  the  im- 
portant positions ;  people  do  not  forget  to  cry 
aloud  that  it  is  all-powerful,  that  it  oppresses 
the  White  clergy.  In  fact,  the  bishops  and 
the  monks  are  reduced  to  defend  themselves, 
and  do  so  ill  enough ;  whilst  their  adversaries 
have  boldly  taken  the  offensive,  and  will  doubt- 
less stop  only  when  they  shall  have  reduced 
the  Black  clergy  to  nothing.  They  have  al- 
ready won  impoi;tant  positions.  The  embassv 
chaplains  were,  down  to  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century,  taken  from  among  the  monks, 
a  practice  affording  great  advantages.  To-day 
all,  or  nearly  all,  are  secular  priests.  It  is 
the  same  with  the  military  chaplains.  The 
Emperor's  confessor  is  a  married  priest,  and  a 
member  of  the  Synod,  as  also  the  Chaplain- 
in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy.     Hence  the 


i 

I 


:i; 


24 


.  The  White  Clergy. 


Chap.  I. 


i  I 


White  clergy  are  assured  of  two  voices  in  the 
bosom  of  the  assembly  which  governs  the  Rus- 
sian Church — two  very  influential  voices,  be- 
fore which  the  majority  is  often  compelled  to 
bow.  These  conquests  do  not  satisfy  its  am- 
bition, nor  will  it  think  it  has  gained  anything 
until  admitted  to  the  ranks  of  the  Episcopate. 
This  is  the  aim  of  all  its  eftbrts ;  but  it  is  a 
point  not  easily  carried.  Never  have  married 
bishops  been  seen  in  the  Eussian  Church.  To 
introduce  such  an  innovation,  it  were  neces- 
sary to  trample  under  foot  all  tradition,  the 
popular  sentiment,  the  canons  of  the  Church ; 
but  nothing  can  stay  the  prosecution  of  the 
/  White  clergy's  designs,  and  it  is  possible  it 
may  ultimately  reach  the  goal.  To  accustom 
the  mind  to  such  a  result,  permission  is  be- 
ginning to  be  given  to  some  married  priests 
to  wear  the  mitre.  It  adorns  the  brow  of  two 
members  of  the  Synod,  of  M.  Wassilieff*,  ex- 
chaplain  to  the  Eussian  Embassy  at  Paris,  and 
of  three  or  four  others. 

At  the  head  of  this  party  public  opinion 
places  M.  Bajanoff*,  the  Emperor's  confessor.  The 
opposite  party  was  headed  by  the  late  Mgr.  Fil- 
aret,  Metropolitan  of  Moscow,*  whose  old  age 

*  Born  in  1782,  Filaret  died  November  18th,  1867.  See  Bio- 
graphie  Universelle  of  Didot  (Paris).  His  death  was  accompanied 
with  mournful  incidents,  which  may  be  found  in  contemporary 
correspondence. 


Chay.  1. 


Tlie  White  Clergy. 


or 


was  attended  by  the  universal  esteem  of  the 
whole  empire,  and  whose  personal  iuhuence  in 
the  Church  whilst  living  was  undeniable.  But 
he  once  dead,  the  Black  clergy  found  itself 
deprived  of  its  firmest  supporter  in  the  resist- 
ance it  is  opposing  to  the  enterprises  of  the 
White. 

It  is  the  Bajanoff  party  which  has  broug] if 
to  light  the  works  we  cited  above.  They  are 
published  abroad,  because  the  ecclesiastical  cen- 
sorship exercised  by  the  monks  would  by  no 
means  permit  them  to  pass.  But  the  govern- 
ment has  no  motive  to  hinder  their  circula- 
tion, and  we  can  believe  they  regard  them 
without  displeasure. 

Generally,  it  may  be  said  that,  in  the  con- 
flict it  is  waging  with  the  Black  clergy,  the 
W^iite  has  on  its  side  the  government,  the 
opinion  of  people  (ever  increasing  in  number) 
who  have  lost  all  religious  conviction,  and  the 
majority  of  the  journals.  The  great  strength 
of  the  opposite  party  is  in  the  people,  and  in 
the  fear  that  exists  that  the  ranks  of  the  Staro- 
veres'^  would  thicken,  should  too  flagrant  in- 
novations be  attempted. 

*  Staroveres  (CiapoB-fepu),  literally  <old  believers,*  This  deno- 
mination is  applied  to  that  large  portion  of  the  Russian  dissent- 
ers which,  while  retaining  the  dogmas  of  the  Russian  Orthodox 
Church,  repudiate  the  jurisdiction  of  the  holy  S3mod.  The  origin 
of  the  Russian  dissenters,  known  generally  under  the  name  Raskol 


i 


m 


26 


Tlie  White  Clergy. 


Cliai .  I. 


Chap.  I. 


Ko ;  if  the  men  in  whose  hands  are  the 
destinies  of  the  Eussian  Church  will  listen  to 
the  counsels  of  wisdom,  that  is  not  the  end 
towards  which  they  will  direct  their  efforts. 
The  most  important  and  urgent  of  all  reforms 
is,  the  abrogation  of  the  measures  which  have 
resulted  in  making  the  clergy  an  hereditary 
caste.  Let  the  entrance  of  the  sanctuary  be 
open  to  all  those,  whatever  their  origin,  whom 
a  true  vocation  leads  to  the  service  of  its 
altars ;  let  the  children  of  ecclesiastics,  when 
they  have  no  priestly  vocation,  be  free  to 
embrace  what  career  they  wish;  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  abuses  which  are  now 
complained  of  will  be  destroyed  in  their  very 

root. 

To  achieve  this  result,  it  is  necessary  that 
the  seminaries  and  ecclesiastical  schools  should 
undergo  a  complete  transformation.  Ecclesi- 
astics must  no  longer  be  constrained  to  send 
their  children  thither,  nor  the  children  of  other 
classes  excluded  therefrom.  It  is  equally  urgent 
to  destroy  all  those  abuses  which  the  principle 


(schism,  Russ.  pacKO.ii),  dates  from  the  great  Patriarch  Nicon's 
correctiou  of  the  liturgical  books  (1660).  Of  this  great  victim 
to  the  conflicts  between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers,  who  is 
the  embodied  idea  of  that  independence  which  it  is  time  the  Rus- 
sian clergy  wrested  from  the  Tsar,  see  the  valuable  work  of  W. 
Palmer,  Esq.,  M.A.  Oxon,  The  Patriarch  and  the  Tmr—Tlie  Replies 
of  the  humble  Nicarij  &c.  (London,  Triibner  and  Co.  1871.)  (2r.) 


The  White  Clergy. 


27 


of  inheritance  and  the  pecuniary  arrangements 
have  introduced  into  the  collations  to  cures. 
It  is  necessary  that  in  every  parish  there  be 
close  to  the  church  a  parsonage  for  the  abode 
of  the  cure.     This  parsonage  being  the  pro- 
perty of  the  parish,  the  cure  should  have  the 
usufruct  of  it  so  long  as  he  shall  be  invested 
with  his  functions ;  he  should  be  at  liberty  to 
dispose  of  it  neither  by  sale  nor  by  will ;  and 
at  his  death,  or  when  from  any  cause  what- 
ever he  should  cease  from  his  functions,  nei- 
ther he  nor  his  family  should  have  any  claim 
on  this  property.     It  is  also  necessary  that 
the  mode  of  collation  to  cures  should  be  so  re- 
gulated that  venality  and  corruption  may  be 
completely  shut  out.     And,  farther,  that  the 
young  people  of  both  sexes,  childi-en  of  ec- 
clesiastics, should  be  perfectly  free  to  marry 
outside  their  caste.     The  author  of  the  book 
On  the  White  and  Black  Clergy  insists  very 
strongly  on  this  point,  and  with  good  reason. 
By  what  right  do  you  impose  on  the  daugh- 
ter of  an  ecclesiastic  the  obligation  to  become 
the  wife  of  a  priest  or  of  a  deacon  ?     The  in- 
clination of  her  heart,  social  proi3rieties,  the 
blessing  of  her  parents,  cannot  the^o  point  out 
to  her  elsewhere  a  happy  path  of  life  ?     Why, 
til  lii^  side,  should  not  the  son  of  a  i^u   f 
a  companion  in  the  family  of  a  decent  eiu^. 


,  i  f 


v-^, 


^r 


7f 


I  X-... 


28 


Tlie  White  Clergy. 


Chap.  T. 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy. 


29 


of  one  of  the  lower  gentry,  of  a  rich  peasant, 
of  a  citizen,  of  a  tradesman  ? 

By  a  necessary  consequence,  the  houses  ex- 
clusively appropriated  to  the  education  of  the 
daughters  of  ecclesiastics  have  no  raison  d'etre. 
Here,  again,  must  he  destroyed  the  spirit  of 
caste ;  no  one  must  be  compelled  to  send  his 
daughters  to  these  establishments,  no  one  ex- 
cluded from  them  on  the  score  of  birth;  nor, 
above  all,  the  establishments  themselves  made 
nurseries  exclusively  destined  to  fui^nish  wives 
for  the  clergy.  It  is  useless  to  insist  on  truths 
so  evident.  How  can  we,  without  profound 
astonishment,  see  upright  souls  and  sound 
minds  of  our  own  day  conceiving  the  odd  idea 
of  forming  boarding-schools  intended  to  edu- 
cate priests'  daughters  to  become  the  wives  of 
priests  !  Surely  the  spirit  of  caste  must  have 
taken  the  deepest  root  in  the  country,  when 
foundations  so  strange  have  not  only  excited 
no  surprise,  but  even  met  with  sympathy. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  another  consideration, 
and  say  a  few  words  on  ecclesiastical  celibacy. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Holy  See  does  not 
impose  it  on  the  Oriental  clergy,  and  we  by  no 
means  intend  to  show  ourselves  more  exacting 
than  the  Holy  See.  Besides,  we  willingly  re- 
tu^u.iu  that,  in  the  actual  circumstances,  and 
perhaps  for  yet  a  long  period,  there  would  be 


more  inconveniences  than  advantages  in  render- 
ing celibacy  obligatory  on  the  Eussian  clergy. 
This,  however,  is  a  point  on  which  we  cannot 
possibly  insist.  If  \h.^  discipline  of  the  Ori- 
ental  Church  permits  married  persons  to  be 
admitted  to  Holy  Orders  without  imposing  the 
obligation  of  separating  from  tin  ii  wivos,  it 
does  not  follow  that  marriage  should  be  a  ne- 
cessai-y  condition  to  ordination.  Canon  law 
never  prescribed  it  in  the  Greek  Church,  and, 
down  to  the  present  time,  the  practice  of  the 
different  Oriental  Churches  on  this  point  is  in 
agreement  with  canon  law. 

In  Eussia  alone  has  the  custom  prevailed 
of  requiring  the  mamage  of  all  who  are  to 
be  ordained  among  the  secular  clergy.     But 
even  in  Eussia  this  custom,  how  general  so- 
ever, has  not  the  force  of  law.     A   lecent  fact 
proves  this.     Some  years  ago,  Mgr.  Eilaret  or- 
dained as  priest  a  M.  Gorski,  a  celibate  but 
not  a  monk.     The  legality  of  this  act  *>  n 
to  be  doubted;  but  so  strongly  rooted  is  fbo 
contrary  custom,  that  in  the  whole  1 
Church  not  a  single  bishop  would  be  found  to 
imitate  Mgr.  Filaret's  example.     We  have  not 
heard  that  this  prelate  has  himself  followed  his 
own  lead,  and  made  a  second  ordination  in  the 
same  circumstances.      However,  it  cannot  ho 
doubted  that  among  the  young  men  who  finish 


30 


Tlie  White  Clergy. 


Chap.  I. 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy, 


31 


their  theological  studies  in  the  ecclesiastical 
academies,  there  are  some  who  would  ask  no- 
thing better  than  to  be  ordained  while  remain- 
ing unmarried,  and  making  no  profession  of 
the  monastic  life.  By  what  right  is  it  required 
of  them  to  clothe  themselves  with  the  bonds 
of  marriage  ?  This  is  one  more  question  ask- 
ing for  immediate  settlement,  which  can  be 
only  on  the  side  of  liberty. 

How  can  one  help  seeing  the  immense  ad- 
vantages of  creating  a  secular  celibate  clei^jy^ 
holding  a  middle  place  between  the  married 
and  the  regular  ?  We  would  not  begin  Iby  giv- 
ing to  such  priests  country  cures.  Why  not  em- 
ploy them  in  seminaries  and  in  the  academies? 
Let  some  of  these  establishments  be  confided 
to  monks — there  is  no  difficulty  in  this ;  but 
why  should  they  all  be?  That  the  married 
clergy  should  be  excluded  from  these  houses 
is  perfectly  understood ;  but  why  extend  ex- 
clusion to  secular  celibate  priests  ?  I  go  far- 
ther. When  a  celibate  priest  shall  have  arrived 
at  a  certain  age,  and  given  proofs  of  solid  vir- 
tue, he  should  be  set  over  an  important  parish 
in  a  large  town.  This  result  once  obtained, 
nothing  would  prevent  the  settlement  near  him 
of  younger  priests  equally  celibate,  who  should 
live  with  him,  and,  profiting  by  his  experi- 
encCj  exercise  themselves  in  sacerdotal  duties. 


After  having  passed  a  few  years  under  the  di- 
rection of  older  priests,  these  young  men  could 
be  set  over  less  important  parishes.  Finally, 
from  the  ranks  of  such  clergy  bishops  could 
be  chosen,  and  the  unmixed  advantage  gained 
of  not  recruiting  the  Episcopate  exclusively 
from  the  monks. 

The  existence  of  this  intermediate  clergy 
would  contribute  much  to  extinguish  the  hos- 
tility  which  now  reigns  between  the  White  and 
Black  clergy,  and  it  would  at  the  same  time 
be  a  new  barrier  against  Leviteism.  In  a  word, 
on  whatever  side  one  views  the  question,  one 
sees  only  advantage  in  breaking  away  from  a 
routine  which  nothing  justifies,  and  in  leaving 
aspirants  to  the  priesthood  free  to  choose  be- 
tween marriage  and  celibacy.     The  author  of 
the  book  On  the  White  and  Black  Clergy  would 
wish  that  priests  who  become  widowers  might 
be  authorised  to  contract  a  new  marriage.  We 
need  not  stop  to  point  out  that  this  would  be 
a  very  grave  infraction  of  ecclesiastical  law, 
an  innovation  involving  the  most  serious  in- 
conveniences.    Without  speaking  of  the  pre- 
scriptions of  the  canon  law,  who  does  not  see 
the  very  great  difierence  between  a  married 
man  clothed  with  the  sacerdotal  character,  and 
a  priest  in  whom  mothers  and  their  daughters 
might  see  a  matc\  or  who  himself,  among  the 


!^ 


32 


The  White  Clergy. 


Cbiip.  I. 


Chap.  I, 


The  White  Clergij, 


33 


young  people  with  whom  his  functions  biing 
him  in  contact,  might  look  for  one  to  whom 
he  could  offer  his  heart  and  hand,  and  pay  his 
courtship  ?  In  such  a  situation,  what  would 
become  of  confession  ?    Let  us  pass  on. 

Of  all  the  reforms  which  the  sad  condition 
of  the  White  clergy  claims,  the  only  one  which 
is  discussed  with  a  little  heat  in  the  press,  the 
only  one  to  which  the  public  and  the  govern- 
ment seem  to  attach  any  value,  has  for  its 
object  to  ameliorate  their  situation;  in  other 
terms,  to  increase  their  revenues.  In  our  eyes 
this  reform  has  not  the  importance  which  they 
attach  to  it.  There  are  many  others  more 
urgent;  but  yet  it  is  necessary  to  say  a  few 
words  on  this. 

Let  us  begin  by  showing  the  pecuniary  re- 
sources of  the  White  clergy.  Adopting  our 
author's  figures,  these  are  the  results  we  ar- 
rive at.  For  greater  clearness,  we  convert  the 
rouble  into  its  near  equivalent,  3^.  2d.  We 
do  not  take  into  calculation  the  stipend  allotted 
to  the  chaplains  of  prisons,  hospitals,  hospices, 
gymnasiums,  schools,  &c.  In  speaking  of  chap- 
lains for  gymnasiums,  colleges,  schools,  &c., 
we  conform  our  language  to  French  usage ;  it 
would  be  more  exact  to  say  catechists.  Our 
author  recognises  that  in  general  all  these  ec- 
clesiastics are  liberally  paid.   The  less  favoured 


\ 


J 


fulfil,  at  the  same  time,  other  functions.  We 
are  then  concerned  only  with  the  parochial  clergy 
properly  so  called.     Here  are  their  incomes : 

1st.  Perpetual  foundations,  with  obligation 
to  pray  for  the  departed.  These  are  in  state 
funds,  and  yield  a  return  of  4  per  cent.  Their 
amount  is  not  stated. 

2d.  nouses  and  properties  belonging  to 
parishes,  and  chiefly  in  towns.  Under  this 
head  there  is  a  revenue  of  100,000/. 

3d.  Provision  paid  by  the  treasury,  600,000/. 

4th.  Contributions  of  the  parishioners,  com- 
prising the  casual  also.  Our  author  estimates 
that  they  should  amount  to  4,000,000/. 

That  makes  a  total  of  4,700,000/.,  to  be 
distributed  among  36,000  parishes,  giving  for 
each  parish  131/.  12,5?. 

In  Eussia  the  clergy  of  a  parish  regularly 
consists  of  a  priest,  a  deacon,  and  two  clerics 
discharging   the   duties   of  sacristan,    beadle, 
finger,  lector,  &c. 

The  total  revenue  is  distributed  thus :  to 
the  priest,  the  half;  to  the  deacon,  the  quar- 
ter ;  and  the  remainder  to  the  two  clerics.  The 
income  of  the  cures  must,  then,  be  rated  at 
65/.  166'.  But,  as  for  36,000  priests  there 
are  only  12,444  deacons  and  63,421  clerics, 
the  incomes  of  the  priests  are  increased  by  a 
fifth,  and  reach,  on  an  average,  83/.     More- 


*ii 


- ,  .- 


34 


The  White  Clergy. 


Chap.  I. 


Chap.  I. 


over,  eacli  parish,  possesses  a  minimum  of  33 
hectares;  which  gives,  according  to  the  same 
calculations,  au  average  of  20  hectares,  the 
usufruct  of  which  belongs  to  the  cure.  The 
quantity  of  land  assigned  to  the  clergy  in  many 
parishes  is  much  more  considerable.  In  pro- 
vinces so  fertile,  the  true  granary  of  Eussia, 
known  under  the  name  of  the  Black  Lands,  it 
is  not  rare  that  the  cure's  share  rises  to  oO, 
40,  and  60  hectares.*  In  such  a  parish,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Oka,  the  meadows  assigned  to  the 
clergy  yield  for  the  priest's  share  40/.  Else- 
where the  Church  possesses  considerable  woods- 
and  forests ;  but  this  is  an  uncommon  case. 

Our  author  maintains  no  less  that  the 
condition  of  the  Eussian  clergy  is  profoundlj^ 
miserable.  This  is  hardly  credible ;  but,  sup- 
posing it  to  be  true,  it  is  in  lessening  the  ex- 
penses, not  in  increasing  the  receipts,  that  the 
remedy  for  the  evil  is  to  be  sought.  If  the 
priests  were  not  married,  this  result  might  be 
easily  attained.  Suppose  the  cure  unmarried, 
and  you  will  recognise  that  the  state  and  the 
parishes  largely  supply  all  his  wants.  I  shall 
perhaps  jbe  answered,  that  the  discipline  of  the 
Eussian  Church  permits  the  Eussian  cure  to 
marry.     I  grant  it;   but  if  he  profit  by  the 

*  In  the  governments  of  the  centre  are  found  parishes  pos- 
gessing  100,  200,  or  even  1000  hectares. 


/ 


The  White  Clergy, 


35 


authorisation  that  is  given  him,  and  incur  pe- 
cuniary trouble  thereby,  he  can  blame  none 
but  himself.  I  do  not  see  that  the  faithful 
should  be  obliged  to  provide  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  his  wife  and  children.  And  the  less 
so,  because,  if  celibate,  he  would  have  more 
time  to  devote  to  them,  would  catechise  the 
children,  instruct  the  ignorant,  visit  the  sick, 
and  be  indeed  the  pastor  of  his  flock. 

Even  admitting  the  existence  of  a  married 
clergy,  it  is  not  necessary  that  it  form  an  here- 
ditary caste.  The  caste  once  abolished,  no- 
thing would  prevent  the  daughters  of  cures 
marrying  decent  farmers,  the  sons  learning  a 
business  and  settling  in  the  village.  Here,  at 
one  blow,  is  a  riddance  of  many  expenses. 

These  are  reforms  to  be  proposed.  Mean- 
time, is  it  true  that  the  parish  clergy  are  so 
miserable  ?  As  is  easily  understood,  the  re- 
venues of  the  clergy  in  the  towns,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  large  towns,  are  much  more  con- 
siderable than  in  the  country.  At  Petersbui^g 
they  are  greater  than  in  the  provinces. 

Let  us  begin,  then,  by  seeing  if  the  cures 
of  the  principal  parishes  of  the  capital  are  in 
distress.  Here  is  the  information  furnished 
by  our  author,  to  whom  the  subject  seems  very 
familiar : 

The  cures  of  Petersburg  have  not  to  trouble 


36 


The  White  Clergy, 


Chap.  I. 


themselves  about  their  dwelling:  apartments 
are  gratuitously  provided  for  them,  such  as 
could  not  be  rented  for  less  than  160/.,  240/., 
or  320/.  per  ann.  The  furniture  is  from  the 
first  shops  of  Petersburg.  Eich  carpets  cover 
the  floors  of  the  drawing-room,  study,  and 
chamber ;  the  windows  display  fine  hangings ; 
the  walls,  valuable  pictures.  Footmen  in  livery 
are  not  rarely  seen  in  the  anteroom.  The  din- 
ners given  by  these  cures  are  highly  appre- 
ciated by  the  most  delicate  epicures.  Occa- 
sionally their  salons  are  open  for  a  soiree  or  a 
ball ;  ordinarily  it  is  on  the  occasion  of  a  wed- 
ding, or  the  birthday  of  the  cure,  or  on  the 
patron  saint's  day.  The  apartments  are  .then 
magnificently  lighted  up,  the  toilettes  of  the 
ladies  dazzling;  the  dancing  is  to  the  music 
of  an  orchestra  of  from  seven  to  ten  musicians. 
At  supper,  the  table  is  spread  with  delicacies, 
and  champagne  flows  in  streams.  A  Peters- 
burg cure  recently  deceased  loved  to  relate, 
that  at  his  daughter's  nuptials  champagne  was 
drunk  to  the  value  of  300  roubles  (48/.). 

In  the  provinces  they  are  more  modest ; 
yet  the  towns  try  to  imitate  the  capital.  The 
rooms  of  the  cure  are  here  less  splendid;  the 
furniture,  however,  is  chiefly  of  walnut  and 
mahogany,  and  includes  large  mirrors,  carpets, 
and  often  a  piano.     The  cure's  daughters  are 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergij. 


37 


dressed  by  the  milliner  of  the  place ;  you  will 
always  see  them  attired  with  elegance ;  they 
do  not  discard  crinoline,  and  never  go  out  with- 
out a  parasol.     The  cure  himself  wears  cloth, 
silk,  and  sometimes  velvet ;  and  our  anonym- 
ous friend  jovially  informs  us  that  the  reverend 
gentleman  gives  at  his  parsonage  soirees  and 
balls,  at  the  latter  of  which  the  daughters  of 
priests  dance  with  the  young  men  of  the  semin- 
aries, to  the  great  scandal  of  the  superiors  of 
these  institutions.     Let  us  carefully  recollect 
this  word,  which  escapes  our  author  in  spite  of 
himself;  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the  seminaries, 
and  consoles  us  by  permitting  us  to  hope  that 
this  clergy  is  not  completely  lost. 

The  country  cures  are  evidently  far  from 
leading  such  a  life  as  the  urban.  Yet  it  ap- 
pears that  for  the  last  twenty  years  it  has  not 
been  rare,  even  in  the  villages,  to  see  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  priests  display  over 
their  crinolines  no  longer  merely  modest  dresses 
of  cotton,  but  of  wool  and  silk.  They  wear 
mantles,  burnous,  and  small  Garibaldi  hats.  It 
is  very  true  that  they  sometimes  divest  them- 
selves of  this  attire  to  labour  in  the  fields.  It 
is  also  true  that  their  table-fare  is  very  mod- 
est ;  they  do  not  eat  meat  every  day,  even  on 
the  days  when  they  are  not  requii^ed  to  ab- 
stain.    In  many  Eussian  villages  this  is  a  real 


I 


38 


Tlie  White  Clergy. 


Chap.  I. 


Cliap.  I. 


The  Wliite  Clergy, 


39 


necessity,  and  our  author  strives  in  vain  to 
move  our  pity  for  the  fate  of  these  poor  cures. 
From  this  description  it  evidently  results,  that 
if  they  are  unfortunate,  it  is  because  they  com- 
pare themselves  to  their  brethren  of  the  large 
towns,  especially  to  those  of  Petersburg.     If, 
on  the  contrary,  they  would  compare  them- 
selves to  the  peasants  among  whom  they  live, 
they  would  be  obliged  to  confess  that  they 
were  better  lodged,  better  clothed,  and  better 
nourished  than  their  flocks.     Our  author  says 
that  it  is  painful  to  be  bareheaded  when  one 
accompanies  a  dead  body  to  the  cemetery,  or 
follows  a  procession,  and  that  it  is  very  dis- 
agreeable to  confess  rude  and  ignorant  people. 
These  complaints  give  us  the  measure  of  im- 
portance  to   be   attached  to   them.     Besides, 
who,  then,  must  be  held  responsible  for  the 
ignorance  of  the  peasants  ?     Who  would  be 
bound  to  instruct  them,  if  not  the  cure  ?     Let 
us  remark,  again,  that,  in  spite  of  the  very 
severe  laws  which  oblige  every  Eussian  to  con- 
fess every  year,  it  is  rare  that  one  has  to  hear 
more  than  half  the  persons  of  an  age  to  fulfil 
this  Easter  duty.      Too  often  it  is  only  the 
fourth  part,  sometimes  even  the  tenth.     As  to 
confessing  more  than  once  a  year,  it  is  a  fact 
almost  unheard  of,  especially  in  the  country. 
The   anonymous  writer  farther   adds :    '  The 


J 


cures  are  steeped  in  humiliation,  and  exposed 
to  incessant  and  vexatious  exactions  on  the 
j)art  of  the  diocesan  authorities.'  This  is  an- 
other question,  and  a  new  proof  that,  even  to 
better  the  material  condition  of  the  clergy,  it 
is  not  sufficient  to  add  to  their  revenues. 

We  saw  just  now  that  the  clergy  of  a  Eus- 
sian parish  regularly  consist  of  a  priest,  a  dea- 
con, and  two  clerks.  Two-thirds  of  the  parishes 
have  no  deacons ;  they  do  without  them  very 
well.  The  others  would  do  Avithout  them  in 
like  manner.  The  presence  of  the  deacon  gives 
to  the  services  more  solemnity  and  splendour, 
an  advantage  the  importance  of  which  I  appre- 
ciate ;  but  I  put  in  view  the  400,000/.  which 
these  12,444  deacons  cost  Eussia,  without 
speaking  of  the  thousands  of  hectares  which 
are  allotted  them.  It  seems  to  me  that  they 
are  rather  dear.  Still,  if  these  12,444  fathers 
of  families,  their  wives  and  their  children,  were 
happy !  But  it  is  not  so.  By  the  very  force  of 
things,  the  existence  of  the  deacon  is  a  pain- 
ful one.  His  situation  is  false,  subordinate; 
he  has  before  him  no  future ;  his  wants  are 
almost  the  same  as  the  priest's,  while  he  has 
only  the  half  of  the  latter's  resources.  The 
character  with  which  he  is  clothed  forbids  him 
the  exercise  of  many  professions,  without  open- 
ing to  him  access  to  the  laborious  practical 


40 


The  White  Clergy. 


Chap.  I. 


functions  of  the  ministry.  His  office  ended, 
the  Church  has  no  farther  need  of  him.  To 
recite  every  Sunday  an  indefinite  number  of 
ehtenias^  is  not  enough  to  fill  up  the  life  of 
a  man.  In  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Mass  is 
sung  with  deacon  and  subdeacon.  The  deacon 
is  also  employed  in  solemn  offices ;  but,  instead 
of  maintaining  a  deacon  who  could  render  no 
other  services,  they  prefer  to  have  a  second 
priest,  who  aids  the  first  in  all  the  functions 
of  the  holy  ministry,  who  replaces  him  at  need, 
and  who  at  the  altar  acts  as  deacon  whenever 
it  is  necessary.  I  do  not  see  why  something 
like  this  should  not  be  done  in  the  Eussian 
Church.  It  is  true  that  the  deacon  could  fill 
the  office  of  schoolmaster ;  but,  on  looking: 
closer  into  the  matter,  one  will  soon  be  con- 
vinced  that  the  more  practicable  thing  is  the 
suppression  of  deacons  in  the  parishes. 

Beside  the  12,444  deacons,  the  Eussian 
Church  still  possesses  G3,421  clerks,  who  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  readers,  chanters,  sacris- 
tans, beadles,  and  ringers. -f*   They  form  part  of 

*  Ektenia,  from  €kt€p^s,  extended^  signifies  an  enlarged  prayer. 
It  consists  of  short  petitions,  each  followed  by  the  response  from 
singers  ftnd  people  of  '  Lord,  have  mercy,'  or  *  Lord,  hear  us,'  or 
*  Grant  us,  Lord,'  as  in  the  Litany  of  the  English  Episcopal 
Church.  {Trans.) 

t  All  these  inferior  clerical  degrees  are  comprised  ur  der  the 
generic  Russian  term  prichetniki  (npiiMerHHKH),  from  npHicTi^ 
clergy,  retinue. 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy. 


41 


the  clergy,  take  part  of  the  perquisites,  and, 
farther,  are  enrolled  in  the  caste.  As  the 
figures  show,  there  are  ordinarily  two  clerks 
to  a  parish.  Their  maintenance  costs  600,000/., 
or  9/.  106\  per  head.  Each  has,  besides,  four 
hectares  to  cultivate,  and  creates  resources 
from  cows,  pigs,  poultry,  kitchen-garden,  &c. 
Sometimes  they  follow  a  trade,  as  that  of  a 
glazier,  bookbinder,  &;c. 

The  Eastern  Liturgy  is  extremely  long, 
and  if  the  reader  read  in  an  intelligible  man- 
ner, the  whole  day  would  be  passed  in  church. 
Eespect  for  ancient  tradition  permits  of  no 
retrenchment;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  not 
wished  that  the  Mass  should  last  more  than 
an  hour,  and  the  other  offices  in  proportion. 
To  accomplish  this,  the  reader  reads  with  such 
a  volubility,  that  it  is  impossible  to  understand 
anything ;  and  sometimes,  in  order  to  proceed 
still  faster,  two  read  at  the  same  time  different 
parts.*     And  then  they  come  and  reproach  us 

*  One  hundred  and  fifty  yaars  ago,  Peter  the  Great,  in  his  Spi- 
ritual Begnlation,  remarked  that,  *The  very  clerics,  by  discharg- 
ing their  duties  in  a  perfunctory  manner,  have  originated  and 
established  a  custom  of  double  praying  and  singing,  and  even  of 
giving  5^ irrfl/ readings  and  chantings  at  the  same  time;  so  that 
the  morning  and  evening  prayers,  divided  into  sections,  are  per- 
fonned  by  several  persons  concurrently.  And  whereas  this  inno- 
vation, the  fruit  of  sloth,  is  vicious  and  uttierly  opposed  to  God's 
appointment,  such  a  mode  of  discharging  the  divine  offices  is  to 
be  entirely  abandoned.'  Spir.  Reg.  part  11.  Common  Affairs,  Ix. 
{Trans.) 


42 


The  White  Clergy, 


Cliap.  I. 


•Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy. 


43 


with  celebrating  the  Mass  in  Latin,  in  a  lan- 
guage not  understood  by  the  vulgar ! 

The  first  reform  in  this  matter  would  be 
to  abridge  the  offices,  to  retain  only  that  which 
can  be  read  and  sung  with  edification.     One 
clerk  alone  would  then  suffice,  and  he  not  ne- 
cessarily selected  from  the  children  of  eccle- 
siastics.    Besides,  I  see  no  reason  why  a  lay- 
man of  good  life  and  manners  should  not  be 
taken  to  do  the  work  of  a  clerk.     He  might 
have  a  trade ;  he  might  be  a  shoemaker,  or  a 
tailor,  no  matter  what.     Except  on  holidays 
and  Sundays,  he  would  have  little  to  do  at 
church.     He  would  not  take  his  share  of  the 
perquisites,  nor  of  the  lands  of  the  church ; 
but  he  would  receive  a  fixed  salary.     When 
the  cure  became  dissatisfied  with  him,  he  would 
discharge  him  and  take  another.     Let  us  here 
remark  that  the  G3,000  families  of  these  clerks 
form  the  great  majority  of  the  caste,  and  that 
it  is  of  great  concern  to  subject  them  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  common  law.  These  reforms 
once  made,  there  would  probably  be  no  incon- 
venience in  the  parish  clerk  becoming  at  the 
same  time  the  village  schoolmaster.    It  would, 
however,  be  necessary  to  clearly  lay  down  that 
there  is  no  connection  between  these  two  em- 
ployments. 

It  now  remains  for  us  to  say  a  few  words  on 


t 


the  more  or  less  voluntary  contributions  of  the 
parishioners,  and  the  mode  of  collecting  them. 
We  first  notice  a  species  of  tithe  paid  in 
kind.  Towards  the  Feast  of  St.  Peter  each 
house  gives  from  three  to  five  eggs,  and  a  little 
milk,  with  which  cheese  and  butter  are  made. 
In  autumn,  after  the  gathering  of  the  crops, 
•each  house  gives  a  certain  quantity  of  wheat. 
When  a  child  is  bom,  the  priest  repairs  to 
the  house  of  the  mother,  recites  over  her  a 
few  prayers,  and  gives  a  name  to  the  new-born 
babe.  This  service  brings  him  a  loaf,  with 
2df.  or  4rf. ;  the  baptism  from  ^d,  to  1^.  more. 
Six  weeks  after,  new  prayers  bring  him  a 
dozen  eggs.  At  betrothals  the  priest  receives 
a  loaf,  some  brandy,  sometimes  a  goose  or  a 
sucking-pig.  Marriage  costs  from  8  to  16 
francs  (6^.  M.  to  13^.  4c/.);  interment,  from 
3,9.  Ad.  to  65.  M.  The  fee  for  Masses  for  the 
dead  is  from  Is.  2d,  to  2^.  8d ;  the  prayers 
recited  for  the  dead  (an  oft-repeated  practice) 
bring  each  time  from  2d.  to  4:d.  Now  there 
is  a  sort  of  Be  profundis^  and  now  a  Memento. 
When  these  prayers  are  read  at  the  cemetery, 
which  takes  place  every  year  on  certain  days, 
the  peasant  gives  the  priest  some  rice,  a  cake, 
or  some  pastry.  Frequently  the  peasants  have 
a  Te  Deum  chanted  as  a  thanksgiving  for  some 
favour  received,    or   a  supplication  iV>r  some 


44 


The  White  Clergy. 


Chap.  I, 


Chap.  T. 


The  Wiite  Clergy. 


45 


new  gifts  from  God,  or  simply  on  the  occa- 
sion of  their  birth-  or  name-days,  or  in  some 
other  cii'cumstance.  Each  time  they  give  the 
priest  from  46/.  to  M.  It  is  a  custom  in  Kussia  j 
that  the  penitent,  on  receiving  absolution,  gives 
money  to  the  confessor.  In  towns  this  sum 
frequently  rises  to  4.s'.,  85.,  and  16.s.,  some- 
times to  much  more.  In  the  villages  the  pea- 
sant offers  only  4  centimes  (a  kopec^  about 
^d.) ;  but  on  receiving  the  communion,  he  i& 
obliged  to  renew  his  offering  several  times :  for 
prayers  before  communion,  at  the  moment  of 
communion,  after  communion,  and  for  having 
his  name  em^olled,  &c.  During  the  Masses 
collections  are  made,  and  a  portion  of  the  sum 
assigned  to  the  clergy.  It  even  sometimes, 
happens  that  the  priest,  arrayed  in  his  sacer- 
dotal ornaments,  traverses  the  whole  church, 
the  censer  in  one  hand,  and  the  other  open  to 
receive  the  offerings  of  the  parishioners. 

Another  source  of  revenue  are  the  prayers- 
chanted  at  home  in  every  house  in  the  parish. 
This  takes  place  at  Easter,  at  Christmas,  at 
the  Epiphany,  at  the  beginning  and  end  of 
Lent,  and  on  the  patron  saint's  day,  which 
is  repeated  in  certain  places  twice  or  thrice 
a  year.  Our  author  cites  one  of  his  friends^ 
who  assured  him  that  the  clergy  of  his  parish, 
in  St.  Petersburg,  in  this  way  presented  them- 


\ 


selves  to  him  as  many  as  twenty-seven  times ; 
but  he  regards  this  case  as  an  exaggeration 
or  an  exception.  Generally,  they  come,  says 
he,  no  more  than  fifteen  times.  At  each  visit 
the  master  of  the  house  must  give  something. 
At  Petersburg,  and  in  the  towns,  these  prayers 
bring  sufficiently  large  amounts;  in  the  vil- 
lages they  give,  according  to  the  importance 
of  the  day,  2f/.,  4(i.,  lOcZ.,  Is.  ScL,  or  2^.  6c/. ; 
which,  on  the  average,  amounts  to  7^.  6d.  or 
Ss.  per  year  per  house.  We  have  no  means 
of  verifying  these  figures,  and  arc  obliged  to 
give  them  just  as  we  find  them  in  the  anonym- 
ous Avriter,  who,  as  we  have  said,  seems  per- 
fectly well  informed,  and  more  inclined  to 
lessen  than  to  exaggerate  the  resources  of  the 
White  clergy.  Following  him,  the  voluntary 
contributions  should  be  estimated  at  one  rouble, 
or  Ss.  4rf.  per  head,  reckoning  only  the  male 
population.  This  makes  many  shillings  per 
family.  We  must,  however,  include  in  the 
reckoning  baptisms,  marriages,  interments,  and 
in  general  everything  for  which  the  peasant 
pays  to  the  clergy. 

Sometimes  it  happens  that  the  peasant  can- 
not or  will  not  give  what  the  priest  asks. 
Hence  arise  angry  disputes.  One  priest — so 
runs  the  story — unable  to  overcome  the  ob- 
stinacy of  a  peasant  refusing  to  pay  for  the 


46 


Tlie  White  Clergy, 


Chap.  T. 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy. 


47 


prayers  read  in  his  house,  declared  to  him  that 
he  woukl  reverse  them.     He  had  just  before 
chanted    '  Benedidus  Deus    noster^^    he    now 
intoned  ^  Non  Benedidus^  xox  Deus^  nox  nos- 
ter-^  thus  intercalating  a  non  after  every  word. 
The   affrighted   peasant,    the    chronicle   says,  ^ 
instantly  complied.*     Often  enough,   too,  in 
spite  of  all  the  prohibitions  of  the  Synod,  the 
wives  and  children  of  the  priests,  deacon,  and 
clerks  accompany  their  husbands  and  fathers, 
and  stretch  out  their  hands  also.     The  worst 
of  all  this  is,  that  the  Eussian  peasant,  while 
long  disputing  merely  about  a  few  centimes, 
will  think  himself  insulted  unless  the  priest 
accept  a  glass  of  brandy.     And  when  the  cir- 
cuit of  all  the  houses  in  the  village  has  to  be 
made,  though  he  stay  only  a  few  minutes  in 
each,  this  last  gift  is  not  without  its  incon- 
veniences. 

It  must,  then,  be  recognised,  that  if  the 
revenues  of  the  clergy  are  far  from  being  as 
insufficient  as  is  pretended,  the  mode  of  col- 
lecting them  admits  of  improvement.  A  re- 
form is  necessary,  but  it  will  be  difficult.  On 
the  one  hand,  the  clergy  will  not  renounce 

*  The  superstitions  pervading  a  great  part  of  the  Russian  peo- 
ple might  form  matter  for  a  volume,  and  indeed  we  have  been 
told  that  a  dictionary  of  Russian  superstitions  was  published  in 
Russia  in  1782,  To  check  their  influence  and  growth,  several 
articles  are  inserted  in  the  Russian  Code  of  Law.  {Trans.) 


this  source  of  revenue ;  on  the  other,  it  is  im- 
possible to  convert  these  voluntary  contribu- 
tions into  compulsory  imposts.  A  system  of 
tariffs  might  perhaps  be  introduced,  at  the 
same  time  making  the  people  understand  that 
by  this  regulation  no  new  charges  were  im- 
posed, but  only  a  change  made  in  the  mode  of 
collection. 

In  completing  this  picture  of  the  situation 
of  the  parish  clergy  in  the  Eussian  Church, 
and  of  the  reforms  which  it  imperatively  de- 
mands, it  is  impossible  for  me  to  pass  by  in 
silence  a  reflection  which  here  presents  itself. 
I  by  no  means  desire  to  become  the  champion 
of  the  Protestant  clergy.  As  to  the  Catholic 
clergy,  I  know  very  well  that,  notwithstanding 
the  grace  attached  to  the  sacerdotal  character, 
the  infirmity  of  human  nature  is  sometimes 
revealed  by  many  miseries.  In  the  Catholic 
clergy  there  can  exist  abuses  and  disorders: 
these  have  been,  and  still  are,  more  or  less,  ac- 
cording to  different  countries.  Without  going 
far  for  examples,  the  joy  we  feel  from  the  mar- 
vellous transformation  wrought  under  our  eyes 
in  the  German  clergy  must  not  make  us  forget 
the  tears  wiimg  from  us  50  or  30  years  ago. 
I  admit  it ;  but  in  spite  of  that,  I  do  not  believe 
that  there  is  in  the  Catholic  Church,  ur  even  in 
the  Protestant  churches,  a  clergy  fallen  so  low 


j^ji^g^^fg^g^jg^ii^^^if,^ 


48 


The  White  Clergy. 


Chap.  I. 


Chap.  I. 


The  White  Clergy. 


49 


as  the  Kussian,  and  \7hich  answers  so  little  to 
what  we  might  justly  expect  it  to  be.  This 
unhappy  clergy  appears  to  have  reached  the 
point  of  self-persuasion  that  all  its  duties  are 
fulfilled  in  chanting  the  offices.  As  to  making 
Jesus  Christ  known  and  loved,  or  pointing  out 
to  souls  the  way  to  tread  in  His  steps,  it  does 
not  even  dream  of  such  a  thing.  The  salva- 
tion of  souls  redeemed  by  Jesus  Christ  at  the 
price  of  His  own  blood  concerns  it  not;  its 
thought  goes  not  beyond  a  few  formalities  un- 
derstood after  a  Jewish  fashion. 

Now,  let  us  very  loudly  assert  it,  the  fault 
is  not  in  the  individuals.  I  am  convinced  that 
the  clergy  counts  in  its  ranks  well-disposed 
men,  good  men,  who  profoundly  sigh  over  the 
situation  made  for  them.  Where,  then,  must 
we  look  for  the  root  of  the  evil  ?  In  the  vicious 
organisation  of  tlie  clergy ;  in  this  obligation 
of  marriage  imposed  on  all  the  aspirants  to 
the  priesthood — an  obligation  unknown  to  the 
canonical  law  of  the  East,  and  which  has  re- 
sulted in  making  the  clergy  an  hereditary  caste. 
There  are  yet  other  causes,  doubtless,  of  which 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak ;  but  here  we 
would  above  all  call  attention  to  this  grave 
abuse,  so  fertile  of  disastrous  consequences. 

May  these  few  pages  impress  on  those  who 
can  apply  a  remedy  to  the  evil,  how  urgent  it 


is  to  enter  on  the  path  of  reform ;  how  neces- 
sary to  prevent  the  White  clergy  in  Eussia 
being  any  longer  an  hereditary  caste;  and 
finally,  how  desirable  it  is  to  create,  by  the  side 
of  the  married  and  the  Black,  a  clergy  secular 
and  celibate. 

In  view  of  these  enormous  abuses,  we  can 
only  desire  the  adoption  of  the  reforms  w^hich 
we  have  just  sketched ;  but  a  reflection  con- 
fronts us.     Who  will  execute  these  reforms  ? 
The  Eussian  Church,  had  it  the  will,  has  not 
the  necessary  authority  to  cause  their  adoption. 
Will  the   government?     It  would  evidently 
transgress  the  limits  of  its  sphere  and  trespass 
on  the  rights  of  the  Church.     This  shows  the 
radically  false  situation  in  which  the  Eussian 
Church  is  placed,  and  proves  to  us  that  it  is 
outside   herself  and  outside  the   government 
that  she  can  alone  find  a  remedy  for  the  evils 
which  ruin  her.     We  reserve  to  ourselves  to 
examine  hereafter  this  aspect  of  the  question. 


CHAPTEK  II. 


THE  BLACK  CLERGY. 


We  read  in  the  Gospel  that  one  day  a  yuuug 
man  accosted  onr  1.  1,  and  asked  Him  what 
he  must  do  to  have  eternal  life.  'Kee}^  t!u 
rnmmau.liiients,'  replied  the  divine  Saviour. 
Ill  that  magnificent  discourse  addressed  to  ]li- 
Apostles  after  the  Last  Supper,  our  Lord  said 
unto  them,  *  Tf  ye  love  ILo,  keep  my  commaii  1- 
iiiuiitb  ;'  '  He  who  keepetli  my  commandments, 
he  it  is  that  loveth  x\ie.'  (John  xiv.  "^I^  2^) 
Jvii  1  at  the  moment  of  His  ascension,  He  pro- 
nounced these  solemn  words :  ^  ^^.  'ii^^nict  ail 
11  itiuns,  teaching  them  whatsoever  1  have  com- 
manded you.'  (Matt,  xxviii.  1^.  i^O.) 

'  Keep  the  commandments ;'  here  is  the 
la^\ ,  here  is  that  which  is  rigorously  neces- 
sary  to  insure  one's  salvation.  !»  it,  bL;^idus 
the  commandments,  the  divine  Legislate  r  lias 
mven  men  counsels  :  '  If  thou  \\  ill  be  perfect,' 
said  He  to  the  young  man  who  quesi  ntd 
TTim.  *sell  all  that  thou  hast,  and  give  In  thf 
-uui\  and  come,  follow  Me.'    (Matt.  xix.  liL} 


I 


h- 


1 


i^. 


iS 


n 


1  - 
1  '1 

•1 

4 

'      A. 

Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy, 


51 


This  is  not  a  commandment,  a  law  binding  on 
all  Christians ;  it  is  counsel  given  by  our  Lord, 
a  means  of  attaining  the  perfect  life. 

Because  the  counsel  i^  ii  t  addressed  to 
every  one,  it  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  euneluded 
tliat  *t  is  addressed  to  ]i*>  one;  Ijc^eause  it  is 
liul  ubiigatury,  it  does  iiul  follow  that  1101113 
ouglit  to  f^ulf^w  it. 

.VlwaiVb,  evorvwhoro.  tliere  iuna:  been,  lliero 
are,  tiH.-re  will  be  Siails  wjioni  Chh!  ralis  in  tlio 
wav  nf  Ills  euuiiSfis  ;  ahva\-s,  e\aa'v\\iaa'te  tlua'o 


{     he    <uU[s  wii'> 


are,  thei-f  have  been,  iliere  \vi 

will  re^Oiaal    to   tliib   ea!L   aiitl   wlie   wiH    ieel 
sucli  re^iiunse  to  be  for  iiiein  a  necessiav.   Sueli 

buuts  \-erv  fiuioklv  loarii  liiaK  o>  -nutunn  to  tlio 


I'ouil^ia^  iM 


i     -V        f         S 


ur.  Wax'x  iiiu>t  Diakt 


em 


i    1  U     i  I 


t        lit 


i  lie . 


iltiiee  tlir  rellirioil:-  lile,  '\\\\\l 


its  A'ow's  ^A  ]i 


re 


'\'rrl\a  chastit\a  aial  obedii-iiee. 
iuundatioii  el'  this  Iviiai  mT  iile  ]•<   lio- 

i 

Terty,  therenuia-iation  nf  all  personal  ornpertw 

^ria-  UtoTiiaii  iV>i!ies  niToiirniaiiisiii  iia\a' :-l]nw]L 
t. 

us  ihat  a  society  euiild  lae  Ih)  based  on  tiie 
reniin(aa,tinn  of  par-ional  ])rupcilv  wilhout  tii«* 
concurrent  renun- eat  it  a  I  ofmarriaa^eaia  iainily: 
Inaa't-  tiie  tow  of  ehastit-\a  La:sti\a  ovorv  ao- 
ciety  necessarily  supposes  m  its  bosom  an  au™ 
thoritv  to  Triiieb  its  -niombers  nin>t  submit: 
lienae  ike  VOW  of  obedience.  W^e  lierc  indi- 
cate uiilv  ill  their  c:eneral  features  tho  funda- 


d 


I 


52 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II, 


mental  bases  of  the  religious  life.  Before 
formulating  counsels,  our  Lord  says,  'If  ye 
will  be  perfect.'  Poverty,  chastity,  obedience, 
are,  then,  means  of  attaining  to  perfection,  root- 
iiiii  uui  the  three  principal  sources  of  our  mi^- 
t:ik 'S  and  our  falls:  the  love  of  av -iI^l  Hip 
love  of  sensual  pleasure,  and  pride. 

Our  T    rl.  when  Inlding  the  young  man  in 
the  Cxospel  •  ^ell  that  thou  hast,'  addb,  '  cuinu 


J 


ana  nn  .w  ^fo.'      To  follow  Jesus  Cliii-t  is  to 


1     C  n 


tread    in   His   steps,  to  imitate  the  exainjles 

He  lin-  u:n-«'!L  us.  V*\  Va^  vows  of  povertv, 
chaNtitv.  ami  ubcdi'iice,  t]i<'  religious  inan  imi- 
tate- Ji-us  Christ,  treads  in  TTi-  Mfu-.  Our 
Saviour  ^mnt  about  doing  gonr].  TTo  nrayorl, 
buttered,  preached,  instructed  the  ignorant,  ju  r- 
mittod  little  children  to  approacli  llim.  ^ur^- 
cuuivd  tiie  miserable.  The  reli^riuu-  undca\nur 


fn  iiinfafr  TThn.     None  ofthnn  r-an   'l^^^ 


a 


at 


unco.  buuie  give  themselves  lu  ilie  cuuleui- 
plative  lif  a  some  to  the  active,  some  unite 
both,  bumu  piupose  to  employ  tlmunsulveb  in 
f  spiritual  mercy,  others  in  lliose  of 


AVur: 


s       1  i 


teiii)Hnil:   Lunce  the  varietv  of  orders  and  in- 
stitutions. 

X  la  ni  these  orders  is  indi-i  usable  to  tla^ 
Chureli;  \et  there  would  be  some  loss  to  tla^ 
ni]]if>^cj  ofr-liuri-h  iiff^  and  notinn.  \X  \\\x^  rtityious 


eleni' 


ilil    lU   Ue 


L 


'^' 


ii  waa'G  to  be  suppressed. 


%\i      i 


€bap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


53 


Besides,  what  earthly  authority  has  the  right 
to  say,  'Henceforth  no  one  shall  follow  the 
counsel  of  Jesus  Christ'  ? 

If  thus  of  the  Church  iii  lt  la  lal.  still  less 

ui  tilt-  Oriental  riiuivh  ran  tla.:  i.li-i  be  auter- 
taina-l  of  till'  tlestruction  of  tlir  raligious  state, 
wlajin,  hv  \arniG  of  a  diMaifiliua  in  iluaa'  tor 
eouturR.>,  u  1-  almost  uniquely  auinug  t]u.  re- 
iii^ion^  that  celibate  priests  ara  fnuufl.  and  the 
iutiieK;i>i  uT  the  Episcopate  can,  ha  rianuited. 
Bv  this  donbl(^  lit  la,  liw  ivliirions  in  Ww  East 
•exeiNUse  a  giaaUer  i,utiuauaa  tiiuu  ekcwlieru,  and 
jiaid  alan'o  a  position  of  mora  afajsideration. 

.A.ii  ihm  perfectly  a; n dies  to  tha  liussian 
(.'liua'rh.  Let  us  farther  a,dJ,  rliiit  ti'tan  all 
tun,c  the  ainiiks  have  beau  >in^Uia]iv  unijular 
in  liu>:-ia,  E\-ia'y  j)age  nf  Jiistury  hilars  wit- 
ness oi'  it,  a.iitl  indeed  tliis  |H.i|)U,laiat v  ]nu>t 
have  beC' unr  di'-ah-  I'outed,  sinac'  it  iam  sur- 
■vr\"eu.  tiie  defaaleure  id' ua,)na.nlaries.  'ilit;  aair- 
ried  laae^t,  ui\  to  einnlux-  tlu^  w^-ual  in  euinnion 
use,  tlaj  pope,  is  nut  ]Mj|)ular;  the  pope's  wile 
and  <-!iiidren  are  still  less  su.  Xtuwiilistanding 
all  tla.'  aiaaik  retains  tia,.^  ta"\"(air  nt'  tla^  iaitli- 
i'uL  This  popularitv  m  e\ani  to  da\a  weakened 
t'h.uuirh  It  be.  Ids  only  fi)i'ee.  his  (juIy  jajwtua 

Till'  aii-avna.)Us  author  uf  the  liuuk  on  Tlie 
White  arid  Black  Clergy,  hlmded  ij}^  his  preju- 
diaes,  luis  understood  nothinir  of  all  this.     He 


54 


Tlie  Black  Clergy. 


Cliap.  IL 


seriously  quotes  Le  Juif  errant  (Wanderiiig 
Jew)  J  Le  if  audit  (The  Accursed)  j  and  other 
works  of  the  same  kind.  After  this,  is  it  as- 
tonishins:  that  he  should  LiixuLi'stand  nothing 
of  the  religious  life  ?  He  sees  in  the  "nii--i:m 
monasteries  only  two  things — riches  and  ubuiLo. 
The  riches  he  exaggerates,  and  concli  iLs  ii 
the  necessity  of  confiscating  them,  the  iibu;^^.- 
he  describes,  not  for  the  purpose  <f  reform, 
but  t-  i.rovoke  the  suppression  of  the  religiuus 
orders. 

A  itw  words  on  the  riches.  "We  must  first 
of  ail  1  iiakc  a  distinction  between  the  treasurer 
of  tile  f-liurches  and  tho  wealth  oftlit^  mnnas- 
I  lies.  In  the  churches,  in  the  sacristies  are 
collected  chalices,  censers,  rliaudciiers,  oinlani- 
duiLd  copes  and  chasubles,  fine  pearls,  iina^i  s- 
crvn ffl  with  gold  and  silver  plates  adorned 
wiU.  turquoises,  rubies,  emeralds,  and  dia- 
monds. I  readily  recognise  that  all  this  wealth 
can  represent  a  considerable  amount ;  but  the 
monks  are  guardians  of  it  rather  than  pro- 
prietors :  they  can  take  away  no  part  to  their 
personal  use;  in  a  word,  they  are  none  the 
richer  for  it. 

I  know  well  that  it  is  easy  to  find  econom- 
i^ifs  who,  at  sight  of  this  unproductive  capital, 
would  advise  a  different  use  of  it.  I  would 
that   til OT  first  used  this  reasoning  to  ail  the 


4 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


55 


ladies  wearing  diamonds.  I  very  much  doubt 
their  finding  it  conclusive. 

A  Catholic  Bi^liuii  nf  the  United  States  iauA 

one  day  at  Eome,  in  innn  uf  St.  Vvti'f<.  a 
citizen  of  the  great  lra]i>'iliaiitit'  ivpulai*/.  Tlio 
latter,  filled  with  ada  iralinn  at  sight  c  i  tlie 
immense  basilica,  a^kod  tlio  prt-lato  if  it  woidd 
not  be  possible  to  erect  such  an  i-diiU-v  in 
America.  ^Wliv  not?'  ropliod  i!a-  Bi-lajp, 
who  was  unwilling  to  wound  hi.<  naaiuiud 
}ai^lo.  '  And  do  you  think  that  ono  would 
realise  interest  from  tlie  capital?'  i  ani\  St. 
lAder's  at  Eome  iHiraunnL,:  to  n  oompaiiv  iiav- 
ing  a  dividend  to  the  ^haraliuldi/i^  I 

Wlien  ii\rarv  "Mngd'done  poured  on  tho  fcot 
of  the  Saviour  a  costly  pciiume,  having  bruken 
tho  alabaster  box  which  cnntained  it,  tlio^e 
present,  seeing  her  prodigality,  nnirniurid 
against  her;  but  the  divine  Saviour  k  It  nlitl 
her.  And  so  with  the  gold  and  sih  tr,  tia  liiu 
pearls  and  precious  stones  employed  in  tlie 
adorning  of  the  churches.  There  is  no  i]{\  i  bl- 
ment  of  money  here;  but  a  sensible  witra  ss 
of  the  faith  of  populations,  who  give  ui  tliiir 
abundance  to  increase  the  splendour  of  worship 
and  the  magnificence  of  the  temples  of  the  iJod 
they  adore. 

It  is  true  there  arc  circumstances   wlwii 
the  clergy  can  and  ought  to  sacrifice  even  the 


aBffgyM8«>^!M;Mmni«iair'^'**^--''iWI^^ 


t    i 


56 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


consecrated  cups  in  order  to  relieve  the  neces- 
sities of  the  suffering  members  of  Jesus  Christ; 
but  from  this  it  cannot  be  inferred  that  we 
may  confiscate  these  treasures.  What  finance 
minister  would  dare  to  propose  for  signature 
to  the  Emperor  of  Eussia  a  measure,  before 
which  Peter  I.  and  Catherine  II.  checked  them- 
selves, and  on  which  Biren  himself  was  unable 
to  resolve  ? 

Let  us  then  leave  on  one  side  the  treasures 
laid  up  in  the  churches  and  sacristies  of  the 
monasteries,  and  speak  of  the  revenues  and 
properties  of  the  monks.  All  this  wealth  was 
confiscated  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago  by 
Catherine  II.  The  history  of  this  confiscation 
is  curious.  It  has  been  written  with  greater 
care  than  clearness  by  M.  Vladimir  Milutin, 
whose  work  was  published  from  1859  to  1861, 
in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Antiquarian  Society  of 
Moscow.*  We  will  make  a  few  extracts  from 
tlii>  document. 

In  ancient  times  the  clergy  enjoyed  great 
;  !  liiuiiLties,  which,  without  having  ever  been 
sanctioned  by  general  legislation,  were  the 
result  of  special  privileges   and  charters  ac- 

*  'IieHia  B^  H.MnepaTopcKOMT)  OCmeciB-fe  HcTopin  h  ^poenocTeii  p(XN 
ciiicKDXT,  npii  Mockobckomt.  yiiiiBcpcuTeT-fe.-IIoBpeMeHnoe  iiaaaHie.  Mockbu, 
B^  ynnBopc.  Tanorp.  8vo.  Milutin's  work  bear^^  the  title  of  0  hba- 
Bn/KiiMbiMT>  HCMJinecTBaxi  ^yxoBencTBa  b^  pocciii-ii.uc'feAOBanie  Bjn.iHM. 
MftiiOTnna,  in  the  No.  of  Oct.-Dec.  1859,  et  seq. 


\ 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


57 


corded  to  each  monastery.  These  privileges 
display  great  variety.  Generally  the  iroods 
of  the  clergy  were  exempt  from  taxes;  th  ir 
administration  exclusively  ntl^nigiii  i  »  tii^^ 
liiunasteries  or  to  the  bishops;  justice  was  ad- 
ministered therein,  not  by  the  reprosoiitativrs 
of  the  prince,  but  by  those  of  tliu  te Ht  -i a-tu  al 
authority:  so  that  the  ecclesiastical  ih  inaiiis 
formed  almost  independent  states.  Ail  the 
public  powers,  including  the  Khans  of  the 
•t-  iden  Horde,'*  contributed  to  create  this 
state  of  things.  Eeaction  began  to  show  IIm  li 
in  tlie  sixteenth  century,  under  the  ia>i  i  i 
of  the  house  of  Kuric.  Against  tla  xrt 
oTowth  of  the  wealth  of  the  clergy  thev 
i-.ures  which  were  not  applied  in  all 


acus 


ave 


1  <  » O  J\ 


llil 


rigour. 

W  Ixcn   one   thinks   of  the   circumstances 

which  brought  about  and  accompaiiuii  th«  ac- 
cession of  the  Eomanoffs  to  the  throne,  one*  is 

led  to  conclude  that  this  dvnastv  oiighi  to 
have  testified  to  the  clergy  the  liveliest  grati™ 
tude  and  the  most  unbounded  confidence,  it 
has  been  quite  othi aavise.     Tbu  young  Miaiiul 

• 

*  A  son  of  the  Mongol  Genghis  Khan  became  m  122^  the  first 
governor  of  the  province  lying  between  the  Dnieper  and  the  Ural 
<according  to  some  authors,  between  the  Don  ana  tlic  Volg:i). 
and  in  a  part  of  Turkestan.  The  horde,  or  trilt.  to  wliicli  lie 
belonged,  he  named  the  *  Golden  Horde,' which  designati  n  ^vas 
iater  given  to  that  whole  region.  {Trans.) 


\ 


58 


Tlie  Black  Clergy. 


Cliap.  11^ 


could  not,  during  the  life  of  the  patriarch  his 
father  J  attack  ecclesiastical  privileges ;  but  the 
tsar  Alexis  determined  on  a  radical  measure 
respecting  the  wealth  of  the  clergy.  He  esta- 
blished, under  the  name  of  Munastyrshi  Prika^r 
(chancery  of  the  monasteries),  a  kind  of  tri- 
bunal charged  to  acquaint  itself  with  all  the 
proceedings  relating  to  this  wealth,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  administer  it,  to  draw  up  the 
leases,  and  to  levy  the  taxes.  The  bishops, 
the  monasteries,  the  churches,  preserved  the 
properties  of  their  domains,  and  received  the 
revenues  of  them ;  the  administration,  the  col- 
lection, and  the  accounting  were  withdrawn 
from  them.  As  was  easy  to  be  foreseen,  after 
this  intervention  of  bureaucracy,  their  revenues 
considerably  diminished.  Moreover,  they  were 
subjected  to  a  very  troublesome  control.  The 
establishment  of  the  Monastyrski  Prikaz  played 
a  great  part  in  the  deposition  of  the  patriarch 
Nicon.  It  is  surprising  that  M.  Vladimir  Mi- 
lutin  says  nothing  about  it. 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  the  tsar 
Alexis,  this  tribunal  was  abolished.  Peter  I., 
a  few  years  later,  reestablished  it ;  and  under 
different  names,  with  slight  modifications,  it 
stood,  almost  without  interruption,  until  the 
radical  measure  taken  by  Catherine. 

Peter  I.  had  fixed  the  taxes  according  to- 


Chap.  II. 


Tlie  Black  Clergy. 


59 


the  needs  of  each  convent,  and  had  taken  care 
to  put  them  low  enough.     The  mm  tixt  d  by 
3>eter  wa'^  first  levied  on  the  revenues  of  each 
convent,  and  handed  to  the  mtuk^ :  tlu    bur- 
plus  was  applied  as  the  luell-being  of  the  Church 
and  country  demanded!     Sometimes  the  same 
motives  engaged  the  sovereign  to  dispose,  not 
only  of  the  revenues,  but  also  of  the  proper- 
|,V^  l]^Pi^^  selves.      Thus  vast  ecclesiastical  do- 
ih    ns  were  granted  to  Menchikoff.    Peter  liatl 
^i,,.^.o.]|t  of  giving  to  the  monasteries  peiu^ion- 
ers— the  invalids  of  his  army,  and  convicts  who 
were  old  and  infirm,  maimed  or  mad.     The  in- 
valids, convicts,  and  monks  received  the  same 
rations.    The  reforming  tsar  complained  of  the 
ignorance  of  the  monks ;  probably  for  this  it 
was  that  he  harshly  forbade  them  to  liavo  in 
their  cells  pens,  ink,  and  paper.     Moreover, 
none  could  be  admitted  to  the  religious  pro- 
fession without  an  imperial  ukase. 

When  the  dynasty  of  Komanoff  became 
extinct  in  the  person  of  Elizabeth,  the  crown 
passed  to  the  dynasty  of  Holstein  Gottorp. 
Peter  III.  had  nothing  to  do  but  renew  and 
confirm  the  acts  of  the  Komanofls  in  order  to 
conbummate  the  confiscation  of  ecclesiastical 
property.  The  measures  which  he  |)rivs(  riljed 
excited  no  less  the  lively  discontent  oi  the 
clergy;    and  it   was   one   of  the   grieYaiiees 


3i 


60 


T/ie  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


brought  against  him  at  the  revolution  which 
deprived  him  of  both  throne  and  life.  Scarcely 
had  Catherine  II.  deemed  her  authority  suf- 
ficiently established  than  she  took  up  the  pro- 
ject of  Peter  III.,  and  by  her  ukase  of  Feb. 
2Gth,  1764,  seized  on  all  the  ecclesiastical 
lands. 

There  was  no  resistance  except  on  the  part 
of  Arsenius  Matseievich,  Archbishop  of  Eos- 
toff,  who  was  degraded  in  1764,  and,  con- 
fined in  a  narrow  prison  at  Eevel  as  a  vml 
(or  dotard),  died  there  in  1772. 

Wo  note  farther,  that  in  a  ukase  relating 
to  the  same  subject,  and  dated  Aug.  12th,  1 7f^? 
(the  revolution  which  had  put  Catherine  i  I . 
on  the  throne  had  taken  place  June  28th  of 
the  same  year,  and  Peter  III.  died  July  6th), 
the  tsarina  said  she  received  from  God,  as  did 
all  monarchs,  the  chief  authority  in  the  Church. 

Upon  the  vast  domains  confiscated  in  1764 
there  was  a  population  of  910,866  peasants, 
without  reckoning  women.*  They  were  in- 
stantly taxed  1  rouble  50  kopecs  (5s.)  per 
head,  and  the  first  year  brought  to  the  crown 
1,366,229  roubles,  or  227,705/.  On  this  sum 
the  state  levied  403,712  roubles  (67,285/.)  for 
allowances  to  the  clergy,  and  thus  profited  by 

*  Two -thirds  belonged  to  the  monasteries,  one -third  to  the 
bishops,  to  the  cathedrals,  &c. 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


61 


160,420?.    Soon  after,  it  was  felt  necessary  to 
increase  the  tax  on  the  rents  of  tbt   j  on^nntrY. 
In  1772  it  was  2  roubles  70  kopecs  (9^.),  and 
in  1783  3  roubles  70  kopecs  (12^.  4^.).     In 
proportion  as  the  charges  on  the  peasants  be- 
came heavier,  the  crown  revenues  became  ni  ire 
considerable.      In  1783  the  confiscated  wi  alili 
brought  3,370,000  roubles, or  541,666/.  1  -  .  1  /^ 
We  know  not  to  what  sum  the  state  receipts  ac- 
cruing from  this  head  can  now  amount.     Let 
us  say  only  that  the  allowances  to  the  orthodox 
clergy  figure,  in  the  budget  for  1865,  for  a 
sum  of  5,806,210  roubles,  or  967,701?.  IZs.  4c7. 
We  may  hence  conclude  that  the  confiscation 
of  1764  has  not  enriched  the  treasury,  but  has^ 
placed  it  face  to  face  with  the  growing  com- 
plaints and  exigences  of  the  clergy. 

But  all  this  concerns  the  past :  the  ques- 
tion is,  how  much  the  revenues  of  the  convents 
now  amount  to.     Our  anonymous  author  does 
not  give  us  the  exact  figure,  which,  besides, 
is  not  known.   An  approximate  idea  can,  hov.- 
ever,  be  obtained  by  passing  in  roview 
different  sources  from  which  they  are 
These  are  state  aid,  immovables,  as  fisheries, 
mills,  meadows,  forests,  arable  lands,  &c.     All 
other  means  of  income  can  be  comprised  under 
thf  ti  rm  alms.    Let  us  examine  in  detail  these 
different  resources. 


J,  1 1  *  * 


•^-ifn^mmm"'-^ 


tl   i 


62 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


The  ukase  of  February  26th,  1764,  was  not 
confined  to  the  confiscation  of  the  goods  of 
-  ^  clergy;  it  suppressed  the  greater  part  of 
til,,  convents.  Those  which  were  preserved 
were  divided  into  two  categories :  the  con- 
vents state-aided,  and  those  which  were  not. 

The  first  category  comprehends  monasteries 
of  the  first,  second,  and  third  classes.  Among 
the  first-class  convents  are  seven  more  im- 
portant than  the  rest,  denominated  Stawopegia. 
Above  and  beyond  these  three  classes  are  four 
great  Laures :  that  of  the  crypts  at  Kieff ;  that 
of  St  Sergius,  or  of  the  Trinity,  in  the  environs 
of  Moscow ;  that  of  St.  Alexander  Nevsky,  at 
bL.  Petersburg ;  and,  finally,  that  of  Potchayeflf, 
in  Volhynia,  taken  from  the  United  Greeks 

The  state-aided  monasteries  receive  an  an- 
nual allowance  which  may  be  regarded  as  a 
sort  of  indemnity  for  the  confiscated  wealth ; 
but  it  is  plain  that  this  allowance  is  far  from 
representing  the  value  of  the  property  taken. 
In  a  monastery  of  the  first  class  this  aid  is 
thus  divided : 


The  archimandrite    . 

vicar 

treasurer  . 
Eight  priests,  at  13  roubles 
Four  deacons, 


>) 


>> 


» 


B. 

500 
50 
25 

104 
52 


K. 
0 

0 
0 
0 
0 


I        ! 


€hap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


68 


Two  guardians,  at  10  roubles     . 

A  baker,  a  housekeeper,  and  eight  monks, 
at  9  roubles       .         .         .         .         • 

Five  overseers  of  infirmary,  at  8  roubles     . 

Lay  employes :  writer  at  19  roubles,  and 
twenty-four  servants  at  9  roubles ;  sup- 
plementary, 55  roubles 

Maintenance  and  repair  of  church 

Keep  for  horses 

^V  ood-f uel 

Hospitality 

Eeer  and  brandy 


Total    . 


=  £336  bs. 


R. 

K. 

20 

0 

99 

0 

40 

0 

290 

0 

400 

0 

62 

50 

150 

0 

100 

0 

125 

0 

2017  50 


A  monastery  of  the  second  class  receives  1611 
Toubles  90  k.  (268/.  145.);  a  monastery  of  the 
third  cla^s,  670  roubles  30  k.  (Ill/,  lis.  4rf.)* 
An  official  report  of  Count  Protassoff  for 
185U  gives  us  the  number  of  the  monasteries 
of  each  class,  which  enables  us  to  estimate  the 
amount  of  the  aid.     Thus  we  shall  have 


39  convents  of  1st  class  . 
65         „  2d 

113  -.  3d 


J) 


5> 


5> 


Total 


R.  K. 

78,682  50 

104,733  50 

75,743  90 

259,199  90 


=  £43,200. 

It  is  true  that  in  1842,  in  the  western  pro- 

*  Silbernagl,  Verfassung  und  gegomdrtiger  Bestand  sammt- 
llcJcer  Kirch^Ti  des  Oriefits  (Landshut,  18G5),  pp.  133,  134. 


^^0iiirmsmsi^^-,m^m^mm^*^'m»!mM 


M»--'»»^'M«fesK-^";''B«o»W" 


>   *»ta- -sj-ww— jii-fssft-**""---? 


lit 


J'  f 


64 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


vinces,  the  allowances  were  more  considerable. 
Here  are  the  figures : 

Convents,  1st  class,  3185r.  ^  £509  12^. 
2d  „  2220  R.  =  355  45. 
3d     „      1540R.  =     246     85. 


99 


which  makes,  supposing  in  a  convent  of  first- 
class  30  monks,  more  than  400  francs  per  head. 
It  was  very  necessary  to  pay  for  the  apostasy 
of  the  United-Greek  monks  turned  orthodox 

in  1839. 

We  have  in  the  first  chap.  (p.  33)  spoken 
of  the  perpetual  endowments,  invested  in  state 
funds  at  4  per  cent,  assigned  to  the  clergy, 
with  an  obligation  to  pray  for  the  departed. 
This  sum  amounted  to  64,000,000  roubles 
(10,240,000/.) ;  giving  a  revenue  of  2,560,000 
roubles,  or  of  426,666/.  13^.  Ad.  \\  c  know  not 
what  share  of  this  revenue  goes  to  the  regular 
clergy.     It  ought  to  receive  at  least  the  half 

of  it. 

After  the  confiscation  of  1764,  the  state 
again  allowed  another  kind  of  indemnity  to 
the  convents.  They  had  lost  their  serfs;  in 
order  to  replace  them  the  state  sent  into  each 
oi  thi  ^tat  -aided  monasteries  a  certain  num- 
ber of  peasants,  for  indoor  service.  They  were 
obliged  to  li  e  there  twonty-five  years,  after 
which  they  returned  to  their  villages,  and  were 
replaced  hx  others.     The-e  servants  wort-  gra- 


'I? 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


fi 


;» 


tuitously  furnished  by  the  state,  to  the  num- 
ber of  twelve  for  convents  of  tlie  third  class, 

fcc\(ii,teen  for  those  of  the  second  class,  aii.l  l\>r 
tho  rest  in  proportioii.  At  tJii?  eiiiaiicijtatieii 
of  tlic  serfs  in  1861  tln'  uu\a,?riiiiieiit  rii!:litlv 
judged  tliat  it  was  time  to  piit  an  vim  tu  aii 
ordi  1  of  things  which  too  mucli  iccaui  I  tlit  ci  /  - 
vee^  and  the  convents  have  since  tla  ii  r  <  <  ived 
Ub  indemnity  a  sum  of  307,850  sii\(  r  ruiildes 
(51,308/.).  By  adding,  then,  the  two  state  sub- 
sidies together,  we  shall  have  for  th^^  iiiniias- 
teries  for  men, 


B. 

259,199 
307,850 


K. 

90 
0 


Total     .     .     567,049     90=-- £94,508 

which  does  not  appear  exorbitant,  if  it  is  con- 
sidered that  the  maintenance  of  the  orthodox 
clergy  figures  in  the  budget  of  1865  for  the 

smii  of  5,806,210  silver  ronljlis  (!m]7J01/.). 
Let  us  now  pass  to  th    i:  ■ 


After  the  ukase  of  1 7  ^  I 


%.  •■  i 


inn  mon- 


asteries could  no  longer  1  <-r-s  land-  inhabited 
I>v  })ca^an.ts  iHinnd  to  thv  ■■-nu  ;  leit  tlivy  re- 
ta:nu.M,l  lir-iKi'u,:;-.  mills,  meaduw-,  wouti-,  arable 
lands,  and  tliey  have  the  riglitto  aaqn„ire  tiiein. 
Tliu  >taa;-  ii-^rii  unve  tdieni,  and  ci^ntinuc^s  Xo 
give  tliem  fi'oni  time  tu  time,  properties  of  tins 


66 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


kind.  On  December  18th,  1797,  the  Emperor 
Paul  published  a  ukase  which  accords  thirty 
hectares  of\:.w\  to  all  the  convents  subsidised 
ur  not.  Duiu^  twenty  years,  from  1842  to 
-jQi-i^  ji'Q  r-n-n vents  received  i''.-^.  i  licotares; 
wii'!:  .!i  au  average  gives  1'^''  hectares  per 
convent .  h\  1 S58,  1240  hectares  of  wood  were 
allotted  to  the  Laure  of  St.  S  rgius,  Moscow. 
Tne  twenty- f-^;r  convents  of  the  pi  ovince  of 
Nuvguiud  possess  9641  hectares.  In  1861  the 
convent  ^f  ?aroff,  in  the  government  of 'iaiii- 
boff,  felled  uuOO  hectares  of  wood. 

The  mere  gum  gathered  from  the  resinous 
trees  of  the  forests  belonging  to  this  convent 
has  been  sold  for  1920/.  From  all  this  we 
must  conclude  that,  spite  of  the  confiscation  of 
1764,  the  Eussian  monasteries  still  possess  im- 
movables of  sufficiently  great  value. 

But  the  bulk  of  the  revenue  of  these  houses 
comes  from  another  source.  The  Russians 
freely  give  to  the  convents,  and  the  generosity 
of  tli  Russian  people  is  every  moment  soli- 
cited b)  inventions  the  most  varied  and  in- 
genious. The  rich  and  great  are  fond  of  being 
buried  within  the  precincts  of  the  monasteries; 
and  these  places  are  sold  ;it  vory  hieli  }  rices, 
luo  interments,  the  prayers  requested  to  1h> 
"  1  at  the  tombs  of  relatives,  bring  lo  tlic 
v.  -o  IV  handsome   sums.     Begging  Bro- 


i/i 


11  r 


Vi 


i 


i 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


67 


thers  traverse  all  Eussia  gathering  alms.  In 
the  densest  thoroughfares,  in  large  towns,  on 
roads,  are  sometimes  seen  chapels,  or  oratories, 
in  which  nu  Mass  is  said,  hut  sdirii/  YviK-v-itvil 
image  stands  exposed,   T 


frlHll 


u\ 


the 


^iaii   I'lcoplr,    and   lau'li 


if  V, 


.lup^ 


visitor  there  purchases  a  wax-taper, 
some  money  into  the  hex.  The  images  repiitrl 
miraculous,  as  also  the  relics  of  the  saints,  arc 
uiduiaiily  in  the  churches  oi  the  conToiits 
where  they  attract  enormous  crowds,  and  n  > 
oiic  cuines  empty-handed.  Some  years  ago  tla^ 
^yii  "^  nised  a  bishop  named  Tychon.  1]^  a 
soleijiii  lruii;Dier  of  his«  rolir^.  which  is  equiva- 
lent to  the  ceremony  of  canonisation,  drew  to- 
gether 250,000  persons.  It  is  asserted  iliat 
the  laure  of  St.  Sergius  receives  every  year  a 
■miflioii  of  pilgrims.  The  celebru.jd  image  of 
0111  ianh  of  Iberia,  which  is  exposed  in  a 
chap!  II  it  against  the  walls  of  the  Kremlni 
at  jI  jscow,  belongs  to  the  convent  of  Pererva. 
it  is  ( stimated  that  the  receipts  of  this  chapel 
in  1843  amounted  to  16,000/. 

According  to  the  Gobs''  (1865.  Xo.  283), 
flie  sinde  laure  of  St.  Sergius  has  a  reveniii^ 
<'f  at  least  two  millions.  That  of  the  Cryifs  at 
Kiaii  1^  ai^u  extremelv  rich.  Onr  unonvnions 
author  accumulates  a  great  number  of  quota- 

*  ro.iocT)  (Petersburg  daily  newspaper). 


•'m^-mmnimfi 


mmiiiwiii' 


68 


TJie  Black  Clergy.  chap.  ii. 

tions  and  figures,  in  order  to  show  with  what 
skill,  and  often  with  what  astuteness,  the  reli- 
gious spirit  and  credulity  of  tTi-  Un- -lan  pou- 
ple  are  worked  ui^uu  by  ilie  m.i  k^.  \N  •  arc 
inclined  to  think  that  ii'  1hese  estinuito.  tn-  lo 
is  some  exaggeration;  Lui  it  is  difluuii  \o  re- 
fuse aU  credence  to  what  o- ■  Mit^-ri-  rrlatos. 

"Wliat  nse  is  made  of  all  these  n.li'  - '    Are 
they  employed  in  missions,  in  the  rclu  1'  .t  the 
poor   hi  founding  hospitals,  schools,  colleges, 
iii. varies?     We  can  boldly  reply,  that  hnt  a 
very  small  part  of  the  revenue  of  the  cuinvnt  ^ 
has tHs destination.   Itis  a  notori..r,<  fu<t.  iimt 
a  portion  of  the  alms  if=  mi-npni'  -ruit.  d  by  I'u; 
verv  persons  who  gather  them.      1 !    n m  the 
monasteries  where  the  coniiiunity-ih.   ^la  vie 
commune)  is  not  established— and  these  are  by 
far  the  more  numerous— a  thirl    ■!  tli.'   re- 
venues forms  the  share  of  the  superior,  who 
lives  in  luxury,  and  very  often  enri-  hos  iii^ 
family.    According  to  the  Voice  (Gobs),  1865, 
No.  283,  the  revenues  of  the  superiors  oi  'in- 
vents should  be  estimated  as  follows : 

In  the  Convents  of  the 

3d  class,  1,000  to    5,000  R.  sUver.  =  ^160  to  £800 
2d     „      5,000  ,,10,000         „       =     800..   K-OO 


1st 


4^ '.'■") 


„  10,000  „  30,000    „   =  1600  „ 

In  the  Laures — 

40,000  to  60,000  R.  silver.  =  £6400  to  .€9600 


Chap.  II. 


T/te  Black  Clergy. 


69 


U  iir  author  proposes  to  the  goyemmeiit  to  re- 
sume and  complete  t]:^  u:ura<iivv  taken  m  17^4, 

lliut  i>  t'M  :<ir,  to  conti-caic  uiiCf  iiiurt'  tlie  i-uii- 
\-eirt  prujK/rtw  This  W(?iilil  be  in  (,'Ur  vyvs 
an  ini^l^tli•^^  and  a  ><i.'^e,vu^  attaek  vii  t.iie  rights 
uf  prcq^tr-rtv.  'S\"\.:  liiFthrr  think,  that  m  all 
th.t'se  iia:nYK->  thore  is  mneh  lunnv.  Jn  takmij; 
the  average  of  the  expense  of  mainuiULing  tiie 
iiinnks.  their  n.'*\"icefe,  and  thoir  as|a,ra]it<.  at 
Inij  roubles  (say  lOL  <t..  le/.  i  prr  year  per 
hone!,,  Y.^0  ta.in'  a  \"ery  modest  vahuitii*n,  and 
do  net  allow  the  means  of  ii\inn  in  ru.xnr\a 
ITowoYoia  if  Ton  takr  into  account  liie  in.nein 
liiuiik;:^^  raj\iar;>^  an.d  uspirauts,  who  li\'e  .in  the 
Enssian  fonTent>.  von  will  at  onre  au'ive  at 
tlie  \a;]'\-  respectable  ligure  uf  ijOOOjOOO  rian 
!)h^.  (jy  I6O5OOOZ.  At  first  this  appears  con- 
b.uhjral).h„' :  but  divided  by  10,000,  it  i<  a  \a,.e.'}- 
small  nnittar.  T.et  us  even  admit  tluit  tlie 
suin  ba  dtviiiilcd,  what  mrri  aiinain  the<e  ivhu 
londe,-t  inveigh  against  tin-  ri'-lir>  of  the 
('un\ant-  would  consent   to  live  on   32/.  nor 


aniruni  r 


'We  do  not  think  the  eun.\a.'n.n''  iv  Ui^  -o  rieli 

as  our  anfa.iyna.jnr,  author  wuuJ.d  wish  to  |)er- 
snaik'  lis  ;  l.ait  snppose  thcan  Uj  be  so,  dis  nut 
there  that  the  evil  lies.  If  tlio  (o^nnnnnitydile 
were  c^vervwhen^  introdneed,  if  the  superiors 
were  sukjeeted  thereto  as  the  others^  if  they 


»«« ■ 


I   f 


70 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Cliap.  II. 


CO  aid  misappropriate  nothing  of  the  revenues 
for  themselves  or  for  their  relations,  it  would 
not  be  difficult  to  find  a  useful  pui^ose  for 
the  resources  of  the  religious  houses.  Yes, 
schools  are  doubtless  wanted  m  Kussia,  hos- 
pitals, hospices,  orphanages,  :i-\]iims  for  the 
aged,  and  many  otiicr  guud  iLing^^,  but  in-tfatl 
of  suppressing  the  monks  and  confiscating  their 
property,  so  act  that  they  themselves  may  ur- 
ganise  all  these  useful  works.  They  can  do  it 
better  and  more  economically  thau  bureau- 
cracy. *  The  right  of  property  will  be  respected, 
and  justice  will  suffer  no  hurt. 

The  real  scandal  consists  not  in  the  greater 


*  What,  without  bureaucracy,  may  be  done  for  the  poor  is 
finely  shown  by  a  Catholic  religious  Order  known  as  the  '  Little 
Sisters  of  the  Poor,'  whose  founder,  the  Abbe  le  Pailleur,  still  lives, 
and  whose  whole  life  and  labour  are  devoted  to  the  feeding  i.  i 
nurturing  of  aged  poor  of  both  sexes  and  of  every  denomination. 
The  Order,  numbering  between  800  and  1000  sisters,  has  in  dif- 
ferent countries  the  management  of  more  than  150  asylums,  shel- 
tering over  15,000  inmates.  The  sisters'  resources  are  limited  to 
the  free-will  offerings  of  the  charitable,  given  in  response  to  daily 
applications  at  private  houses  and  the  public  markets.  The  gifts 
from  private  houses  consist  of  broken  victuals,  stale  but  clean 
bread,  &;c.  At  the  markets  the  sisters  good-humouredly  submit  to 
various  receptions,  and  shrewdly  take  advantage  of  them,  as  re- 
cently seen  in  Covent-garden,  London.  In  reply  to  their  appeal, 
a  rough  market-gardener  ironically  bade  them  *take  that  there 
sack  of  potatoes,'  and  was  astounded  to  see  the  sturdier  <  f  the  two 
eagerly  shoulder  the  sack,  and  bear  it  off  amid  the  laught.  i  if 
the  bystanders.  It  would  be  to  the  credit  of  the  railwav  c  iii- 
panies  if  these  carers  for  the  poor  were  permitted  u  i;a\ei  i;  e. 
{Trans.) 


fiabh 


"'"•"•"'"I"'"" '  I  iiiiiTiiiiiw-imiiirtfiiiiiiiniiii 


'  Trir  I  '  Hi  iili' Wiijuaii  III!  n»  iiiiiiiil,i»  ii 


>«l" !■»■ *VI»lll*liil«|lllllllliril|lliia«l 


mmmmmm 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


U 


or  less  revenue  that  the  convents  can  haye, 
but  in  the  bad  use  made  of  it,  imd  above  ail, 
in  the  fact  that  this  money  >i  r\  i  s  to  enrich 

the  superiors.  Here  i-  tlii-  vxil  ti)  he  uprtHjti^d. 
Now  Eussian  legislation,  iai  iiuin  ui>]MKiiiix, 
encourages  it. 

What  the  anonymous  author  of  the  book  on 

tli.'  White  and  Blaelv  f']j:'Vii:\\  imd  tlie  ineii  who 
have  inspired  him,  wish,  is  sinipl}  tu  (k>poil 
ilw  celibate  f-UTLi'v  of  the  alms  TOf'vJTod  Irom 
the  people,  in  order  tu  aid  the  t^ah'i-uxpunses 
of  ilic  wives  and  daughters  of  ilio  iriarriiMl 
priests.  Let  them  at  least  have  the  couraui  to 
^ay  so. 

Before  speaking  of  abuses,  let  us  glaiK  i  ;it 
tlu)  situation  of  the  monasteries  in  Eussia. 

All  are  reputed  to  li\e  riiider  tiu'  nilr  ui 
St.  Basil.    They  are  not  s 


n  nil  si 'mI  aiiiniitr  tiii'iii- 
Sfives  as  to  form  one  uv  bc\"rr:tl  ('uiiirrt^u'atiuiis. 


Formerly  it  was  not  so.  Tht-iv  wvr.;  largi^ 
monasteries,  to  whicli  wuru  aililiated  a  -I't/ator 
or  less  number  oi  other  convents,   iii  di  r   the 


miardianship   and    Niiisdietion    of 


f }  '\ 


1.  it,.- 


ccaitral 


■abbey.  The  laure  of  fct.  Sorgiiis  Iiad  iV)rty 
liuii>es  in  its  dependeuce.  Tliesc  Halutary  bunds 
iiiadi-  Hir-  strength  of  the  moiiustic  Order;  they 
^'^^■'^'■'  ii  iximvimtee  for  ilu:  niaiiitenanee  of  dis- 
cipline.   In  proportion,  as  tiie  hand  of  tlie  State 


iia^  been  extendiMl  over 


tlie  tehuroln  and  has 


I         t 


I 

i     i  I 
I  i 

I  ii 


-    I 

•    1 

I 

1 


I*    ■    I 


72 


The  Black  Clergy, 


Chap.  II. 


taken  away  her  independence,  these  bonds  have 
been  broken:  the  monutoluncb  liave  heen  iso- 
lated, and  hence  have  resulted  also  tlirii  wi  al > 

n{'<>  aihi  decay. 

1  he  action  of  the  state  has  made  itsi  if  Alt 
ill  vri  tiib^Uivv  ia:5iiion.  l^a•liit■r]\'  ilw  cimwiit^ 
wciv  vrvy  iiujn.eroiis.     Tii  1761.,  wltluAit  rci-k- 


oniTi^-  l.iitlf   Russin  :ni>i  "White   \l 
w ire  still 


liiii'-C 


732  convents  of  men 
222  ..  "women 


9> 


;}= 


954 


The  iikase  of  Catherine  II.,  which  confiscated 
the  property  of  the  clergy,  enacted  that  there 
should  be  thenceforward  only 


361  convents  of  men 
39  ,,  women 


99 


;}= 


=  400 


This  was  the  suppression  of  554  convents. 
Tiittle  by  little  this  rigour  was  obliged  lu  be 
relaxed,  aial  ever  since  the  number  of  convents 
has  been  increasing. 

We  have  been  able  to  procure  the  follow- 
in?  fienres : 


1810 

1815 

l-,a) 

1836 

l^nr 

1838 


Total. 
.     .      452 

387  convents  of  men,    91  of  women,  478 
408  „  101  „        509 

410  >,  102  „        512 

412  „  103  „        515 

435  „  113  „        548 


99 


» 


$ 


Chap.  II. 

1849 
1850 
1860 


The  Black  Clergy. 


73 


Total. 


462  convents  of  men,  123  of  women,  t)bo 


464 
614' 


123 

137 


99 


The  following:  nvv  tli 

gious    of   ImjIIi     ^eXi--, 

(Ios-iHiients:| 


tiirur*^'^    of  tile  nii- 
to   tlie    same 


',,-'  ',:]•!  ill  i  (  r 


Total. 


1815 
1818 
1835 
1836 
1837 
1838 
1849 
1850 


4900  monks,  1696  nuns.  G" 


). 


If 


4396 
4432 
5703 
6724 
5105 
4978 


3161 
2544 
2655 
2352 
2595 
2313 


77 
77 


6976 
8358 
9076 

7  7i>0 


7«!i    i 


1.  i. 


Till  se  figures  present  strange  anomalies. 
must   hr  kept  in  yi^w  tTirit  thr  iiiuiia-ti-^ru-b  ut' 
the    I  iihd  Greeks,  incorporated  in  1  bo  in  an 

reckoned  as  part  c^f  thn  liiissiiiii  l  nureh  iii 
1838.  This  ex|»laiiis  the  siukleii  ille^^;a^^e  of 
lUUO  monkb  in  uiii.^  vi'ar.     Already  in  tlio  pre- 

*  We  offer  no  explanation  how  the  convents  for  men  rose  in 
the  ten  years  1850-60  by  150. 

f  These  documents  are : 

(a)  Mgr.  Filaret,  Archbishop  of  Kharkoff,  recently  decea  t  1 
at  the  see  of  Tchemigoff;  HcTopia  pyccKOii  I^epKBU.  Tchern.  Ix-, 
period  v.  p.  130. 

{b)  Fath.  Theiner,  L'Eglise  scliismati/iue  JRusse,  pp.  il  ".  1 1 7. 
f"      (c)  The  Official  Reports  of  the  Count  Protassoff  for  1  ^^i)  au  1 

^  1851. 

(rj)  The  aiH'nyiiioii^  author  of  the  liuok  un  the  "Uldtc  and 
Black  Clergy^  xol,  i.  ['|'.  li-^s  13 1  o. 


J 


jBiiii^BiMa&^g&liiaMgaHKf^^ 


mmm 


74 


TJie  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


ceding  year  there  had  been  an  inexplicable  in- 
crease of  1200  monks.  We  may  suppose  that 
they  were  United  Greeks  taken  from  their  own 
convents,  and  incorporated  into  the  Eussian 
convents.  But  these  unjust  acquisition^  have 
not  profited  the  Eussian  Church ;  twelve  years 
afterward  there  remained  nothing  of  this  mo- 
mentary increase. 

Alas,  if  these  monks  could  rise  from  their 
tombs,  and  describe  the  manoeuvres,  frauds,  vio- 
lences by  which  they  were  successfully  made 
to  appear  in  the  report  presented  by  Count  Pro- 
tassofi*  to  the  Emperor  Nicholas ;  if  they  could 
tell  us  by  what  accidents  they  successively  dis- 
appeared from  these  sad  lists,!  Did  Siberia 
receive  them  ?  Did  death  deliver  them  ?  "We 
cannot  tell.  We  see  only  that  these  figures 
suddenly  swell,  then  melt  away  like  an  ava- 
lanche which  is  precipated  into  the  valley,  and 
quickly  disappears  under  the  rays  of  the  sun. 

In  the  figm^es  we  have  cited  let  us  point  to 
another  anomaly.  The  male  religious  are  al- 
most thrice  as  numerous  as  the  female.  An- 
other document  gives  us  the  number  of  per;suns 
of  both  sexes  admitted  to  the  religious  profes- 
sion from  1841  to  1857,  during  a  space  of  six- 
teen years,  the  year  1848  being  excluded: 


Men 
"Women 


4147 
1569 


}= 


5716 


Chap.  IL 


The  Black  Clergy. 


75 


The  proportion  between  the  two  sexes  is 
still  almost  the  same.  But  if  we  take  into  our 
calculation  the  novices  of  the  two  sexes,  the 
male  and  female  aspirants,  in  a  word  the  whole 
population  of  the  cloisters,  v  i  shall  obtain 
different  figures,  as  we  shall  ea>ih 


.{■>(' 


folio  win  <]r  table : 

\-/ 

Total. 

1835     .     .      5739  men,  6411  women, 

12,150 

1836     .     .      5978     „     9271       „ 

15,249 

1837     .     .      7163     „     6089       „ 

13,252 

1838     .     .      8339     „     6385       „ 

14,724 

1861     .     .  10,527     „       — 

VV.iich  gives  the  following  proportion: 

Men.              Women. 

1835     .     .     47  per  cent,  53  percent. 

1836     .     .     48        „        52 

1837     .     .     54        „        46 

1838     .     .     56        „       48        „ 

That  is  to  say,  that  the  female  population  of 
the  cloisters  is  very  nearly  equal  to  the  iiirilo. 
It  results,  then,  from  the  figures,  that  in  tlie 
convents  of  women,  the  number  of  iiOYiec-  roid 
postulants  is  much  greater  than  that  ui  ilic 
professed. 


Professed. 

Novices. 

l^yteL 

1835     . 

.     3161     . 

.     3250     . 

.     6411 

1836     . 

.     2544     . 

.     3727     . 

.     6271 

1837     , 

.     .     2655     . 

.     3454     . 

.     6089 

1838    . 

.     2322     . 

.     4033     . 

.     6385 

76 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


Professed. 

Novices. 

Total. 

1849    . 

.     2595     . 

.     5825     . 

.     8420 

1850     . 

.     2313     . 

.     6230*  . 

.     8543 

We  think  we  find  the  cause  of  this  anomaly 
in  a  ukase  of  Peter  the  Great,  which  forbids 
admission  to  the  religious  profession  to  all  wo- 
men, immaiTied  or  widows,  under  40  years  oid.f 
Hence  it  is  that  many  young  persons  live  in 
a  convent  and  share  the  life  of  the  professed 
whUst  waiting  to  attain  the  age  for  professing. 
This  waiting  is  sometimes  prolonged  for  twenty 
years  or  more.    After  a  delay  longer  or  shorter 
some  make  professions,  others  return  to  the 
world,  others  still  continue  to  live  in  the  cloister 
without  taking  the  vows.     It  is  not,  after  this, 
astonishing  that  the  number  of  those  termed 
nnvices  and  aspirants  should  be  more  consider- 
able than  that  of  the  professed. 

Finally,  the  table  already  laid  before  the 
reader  presents  a  third  irregularity,  for  which 
^p  liavp  found  no  explanation.  How  happens 
it  that  in  1836  the  number  of  the  professed  falls 
off  all  at  once  by  617,  whilst  that  of  the  aspir- 
ants increases  by  477  ?  The  next  year,  on  the 
contrary,  the  number  of  the  professed  increases 
by  111,  and  that  of  the  aspirants  decreases  by 

*  The  number  of  the  novices  and  postulants  in  the  convent* 
state  aided  Is  given  only  for  the  years  1849  and  1850. 
f  Eussian  Code,  ed.  1857,  torn.  ix.  art.  250. 


M^  ^-^4' 


^33^s^^«^i'Ea«^(lfi,g*-*-ip«(ii^ 


* 


! 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy, 


TJ 


273;  and  the  year  after  we  see  333  less  pro- 
fessed and  579  more  aspirants. 


1836 
1837 
1838 


Professed  -  61 7,  aspirants  +  477 
+  111  „        -273 

-333         „       +579 


» 


» 


}> 


Is  it  not  the  violent  reunion  of  the  T^nitc^d 
Greeks  which  is  the  cause  of  these  stranire  flu  - 

tuations  ? 

We  have  seen  that  in  takinsr  into  accoiiiit 
novices  and  aspirants  of  both  sexes,  tln^  ( i^ii- 
vnit^  of  men  and  those  of  worn  ii  iHit  aliiiuvt 
ilio  same  number  of  inmates,  il  ur  ihitlKi 
examine  these  figures,  we  bliail  see  that  the 
monks  and  nuns  are  not  recruited  from  tlie 
same  classes.  From  1841  to  1857,  n^  wv^  liavc 
already  remarked,  4147  men  and  ISiiU  \\a - 
men  were  admitted  to  the  religious  proiVs^aiL 
Let  us  see  to  what  classes  of  society  both  be- 
long. 

We  distinguish  five  difi'erent  classes — ^the 
clergy,  nobility,  lu'ban  population,  riiril  po}) il- 
lation, and  the  military.  Under  the  term  clergy 
figures  the  whole  caste  of  ^iliieli  wo  have 
hitherto  spoken,  viz.  priests,  deacons,  deiies, 
with  their  wives  and  children.  T^t  Tirlnlitv  we 
mean,  besides  the  nobles  properly  so  (ailed,  idl 
government  eniployes,  including  physicians. 
professors,  and  in  general  all  persons  belong" 


^ 
* 


}  i 
-.  ! 

u 


78 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  IT. 


ing  to  the  liberal  professions,  or  who  occupy  a 
post  m  the  administration. 

The  urban  population  comprises  merchants, 
dtizeiis,  artisans,  and  all  who  are  in  Kussia  un- 
derstood by  the  term  raznotcMntzy.'^  To  the 
rural  population  belong  the  peasants  of  every 
category.  Finally,  under  the  name  military  we 
take  into  account,  with  the  soldiers,  their  wives 
and  children.  These  explanations  being  given, 
here  is  the  proportion  in  which  the  monks  are 
recruited  from  these  different  classes : 

54*3  per  cent. 


Clergy 2253 

Urban  population  .     .  944 

Eural          „           .     .  684 

Military 141 

:Nrol)ility 125 


22-3 

16-3 

3-4 

3-0 


^ 


?> 


J? 


j> 


>> 


*  paaeonnnnti,  literally  men  of  different  categories  (paano,  razjw 
— MHHi,  tchiti).    Tchin  =  ceremonial,  order,  rank. 

By  tcliiii  is  meant  also  the  ladder  of  ranks  introduced  by  Pe- 
ter I.,  and  which  subordinated  nobility  of  birth  to  that  of  service. 
Here  ancestors  and  parchments  were  made  to  count  for  nothing. 
This  civil  institution  was  intended  by  Peter  to  weaken  the  old 
nobility,  and  at  first  consisted  of  sixteen  ranks,  but  afterwards 
was  reduced  to  fourteen.  Of  these,  the  first  eight  conferred  heredi- 
tary nobility,  with  all  the  rights  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  the 
old ;  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  ranks  only  personal  nobility  was 
awarded.  Men  of  merit  were  by  Peter  introduced  into  any  rank 
he  deemed  proper ;  but  Paul  I.  ordained  that  the  rise  of  all  men 
should  be  gradual,  and  taken  strictly  through  all  the  steps  of  the 
ladder  successively.  Pvecent  municipal  modifications  have  made 
hereditary  nobility  more  dependent  on  the  Tsar's  will,  as  also  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  that  which  is  personal.  See,  for  further 
information,  Schnitzler  (J.  H.),  V Empire  des  Tsars  au point  actv el 
dc  la  Science,  Paris,  1866,  tom.  iii,  seconde  section,  chap.  1,  La 
societe politUiue ;  etat pHricijpal,  constitution,^^.  280-290.  {Trans.) 


1  . 


k 


Chap.  II. 


Tlie  Black  Clergy. 


79 


For  the  nuns  we  have  these  figures : 


Urban  population  . 

.608       .     . 

38*8  per  cent 

Eural          „ 

.492       .     . 

.       31-0       „ 

Clergy      .... 

.     213       . 

.       13-0       „ 

Mobility  .... 

.     190       . 

.       12-0       „      . 

Military  .... 

.      66      .     . 

4-0       „ 

Thus  the  majority  of  the  monks  belongs  to  tlio 
^  tribe  of  Levi,'  whilst  only  one-eighth  of  the 
nuns  comes  from  its  ranks.  The  reason  of  this 
is  very  simple.  We  have  seen  that  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Episcopate  are  taken  from  among 
the  monks,  ilere  is  the  motive  which  engages 
a  good  number  of  young  men,  at  the  close  of 
their  theological  studies,  to  renounce  marriage 
and  adopt  the  religious  habit.  Nothing  like 
this  exists  for  women.  There  is,  then,  among 
the  monks  a  whole  category  to  which  there  is 
nothing  analogous  among  the  nuns. 

The  difference  between  the  4147  monks 
and  the  1569  nuns  is  2578 ;  it  nnswers  very 
nearly  to  the  figure  2263,  which  represents 
the  number  of  monks  proceeding  from  the 
sacerdotal  caste. 

"We  are  presently  to  speak  of  this  numer- 
ous category  of  monks,  for  whom  the  religious 
profession  is  a  career  far  rather  than  a  voca- 
tion. Merely  observing  now  that  these  form  the 
majority,  we  proceed  to  speak  of  the  others. 

The  nobility,  the  administrative   classes, 


r,  W-J,»*-Sf^  ™*^FT9e««'^ 


: 


I® 

ft 

f 


80 


T/ie  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


and  the  liberal  professions  annually  give  to  the 
religious  life,  on  an  average,  seven  persons. 
This  is  little.  The  old  soldiers  lunn-li  eight; 
'tis  scarcely  worth  while  to  note  them.  1  m  t}  - 
three  vocations  form  the  contin Grout  nf  the  rural 
population;  fifty-nine  that  of  the  urban,  li.c 
inhabitants  of  the  country  are  eleven  times 
more  numerous  than  those  of  the  towns,  and  it 
would  besides  seem  that  country  life  ought  to 
dispose  to  the  religious  life  rather  than  city 
tumult  and  corruption.  Whence  comes,  then, 
this  strange  disproportion  ? 

Eussian  legislation  has  put  shackles  on 
every  religious  vocation,  which  impede  but 
little  a  rich  merchant,  but  which  a  poor  pea- 
sant succeeds  only  with  the  greaiu^^i  diliiculty 
in  shaking  off.  This  single  fact  t  light  to  have 
great  influence,  and  to  explaiiu  ni  part,  why 
there  are  many  more  merchants  than  peasants 
in  iliO  convents.  Farther,  following  our  anony- 
mous author,  the  convents  exhibit  but  little 
eagerness  to  receive  poor  and  io'ii'  i  nt  pea- 
sai  1-,  v]  r)  would  be  of  no  advantage  to  them, 
^v;  n  tjii  V  readily  embrace  merchants,  who 
1  lingj  besides  their  fortune,  large  experience 
in  business  and  valuable  connections  i\iili 
the  commercial  class.  It  is  also  an  ub- 
ject  of  desire  to  have  such  men  at  the  head 
of  poor   convents,   which   very  soon   prosper 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


81 


under  their  able  management.  They,  on  their 
part,  are  not  insensible  to  the  hope  of  becom- 
ing priors,  abbots,  knights  of  St.  Anne  and  of 
St.  Yladimir.  Tf  this  account  be  true,  then 
motives  far  different  from  religious  vocation 
induce  merchants  to  withdraw  into  cloisters. 

Let  us  conclude  that  the  Eusbicii  people  in 
general  furnish  to  the  convents  a  very  weak 
contingent.  The  clergy  alone  gives,  propor- 
ti  mately,  a  hundred  times  more  than  the  rest 
of  the  population.  The  140*  recruits  yearly 
tiirnished  by  it  to  the  convents  are  subdivided 
into  several  classes,  which  we  must  be  very 
careful  not  to  confound. 

There  are,  firstly,  the  seminarists  who  have 
not  been  able  to  complete  their  classes.  Their 
career  is  a  broken  one.  If  they  quit  the  ranks 
of  the  clergy,  conscription  there  awaits  them ; 
in  the  secular  clergy  they  have  no  other  pro- 
spect than  that  of  becomin^  1  eadles  or  sacris- 
tans, and  even  of  this  all  are  not  sui-e.  They 
embrace,  then,  the  religious  state,  and  the 
rather  as  by  this  road  they  can  hope  to  reach 
the  diaconate,  or  even  the  priesthood.  In  any 
case,  the  life  they  will  lead  m  the  convent  will 
be  less  rude  than  that  among  the  low  clerirv. 

The  youths  who  have  finished  their  luurso 
in  the  seminary  have  a  career   open  before 

*  2253  in  16  years  give  a  yearly  average  of  140. 

0 


*  ■ 


•J9l 


il 


H 


82 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


them :  they  never  dream  of  donning  the  cowl. 
There  are,  however,   some  who  embrace  the 
monastic  life,  but  they  are  rare  enough.  ^  It 
very  frequently  happens  that  a  deacon  or  priest 
loses  his  wife.     He  cannot  marry  again.     If 
still  young,  he  is  admitted  to  the  academy,  and 
reenters  the  category  of  which  we  are  about  to 
speak ;  but  if  a  little  older  he  goes  to  the  con- 
vent, sometimes  even  under  compulsion.     It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  by  one  of  those  in- 
advertences so  frequent  in  Eussian  legislation, 
a  priest  or  deacon  who  has  rendered  himself 
guilty  of  grave  offences,  and  can  no  longer  ex- 
ercise his  functions,  is  condemned  to  the  con- 
vent, as  civilians  are  elsewhere  to  the  galleys. 
A  seminarist  also  who  has  com]3letedhis  studies, 
but  is  not  yet  ordained,  discharges  in  a  semi- 
nary the  duties  of  a  professor.     He  is  married, 
say,  and  loses  his  wife.    If  he  marry  again,  he 
can  no  longer  be  ordained,  nor  even  though  he 
remain  a  widower.     N"othing  remains  for  him 
but  to  turn  monk,  unless  he  prefer  to  obtain  a 
professorship  in  a  gymnasium  or  embrace  some 
other  career. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  youths  who  have 
done  with  their  classes  in  one  of  the  four  aca- 
demies of  Petersburg,  Moscow,  Kieff,  or  Kasan. 
These,  while  remaining  among  the  secular 
clergy,  are  sure  to  promptly  arrive  at  the  priest- 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy, 


83 


hood ;  but  they  cannot  aspire  to  the  Episcopate ; 
whilst  a  young  man  who  adopts  the  monastic 
hh'  during  his  course  at  the  academy  is  iiiO" 
ralJy  certain,  on  quitting  it,  ul  beiiii:  named 
inspector  or  prefet  of  studies  in  a  Siiiiiiiaii. 
At  a  few  years'  end  he  becomes  rector  ui  mi|h  - 
rior,  and,  provided  he  himself  does  not  impede 
his  own  advancement,  he  can  scarcely  fail  <  i 
attaining  the  Episcopate. 

It  is,  then,  a  career,  and  the  numerous  de- 
tails into  which  our  anonymous  author  enters 
clearly  show  us  that  for  all,  or  nearly  all.  it  is 
nothing  else. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  these  young  peo- 
ple not  only  have  no  inclination  to  the  religious 
life,  but  feel  for  it  a  repugnance  too  strong  for 
even  the  prospect  of  a  mitre  to  overcome.  On 
the  other  hand,  difficulty  exists  in  prciiriTig 
the  number  of  persons  necessary  for  filling  posi- 
tions which  cannot  be  intrusted  to  monies  wholly 
ignorant.  The  ecclesiastical  authority  uses 
every  means  to  determine  a  certain  number  of 
academic  pupils  to  embrace  the  monastic  life. 
The  strife  is  sometimes  lively.  If  we  are  to 
credit  our  author,  the  celebrated  Plato,  metro- 
politan of  Moscow  at  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury, employed  very  strange  means  in  these 
^ases.  When  all  methods  of  persuasion  had 
failed,  the  recalcitrant  student  was  invited  \o 


i  ■ 


1  5 

i     i 

f   5 


84 


T/ie  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


pass  the  eyening  with  one  of  the  monks.  There 
he  was  made  to  drink  until  he  became  intoxi- 
cated, when  the  ceremony  constituting  religious 
profession  was  performed,  I  e.  the  taking  the 
liubit  and  receiving  the  tonsure.     On  awnldTiir 
tiio  next  morning  the  unfortunate  youth  saw 
beside  his  bed,  instead  of  the  lay  garments 
T^'orn  the  night  before,  a  monastic  habit.  Often 
he  fell  into  a  rage,  and  tore  into  shreds  the 
tokens  of  his  profession.  Then  his  anger  gradu- 
ally subsided ;  it  was  shown  to  him  that  what 
had  been  done  could  by  no  means  be  undone ; 
and  the  involuntary  monk  resigned  himself  to 
his  fate.  All  reflection  would  here  be  superflu- 
ous, and  nothing  better  proves  the  little  account 
made  of  vocation  about  fifty  years  ago.    At  the 
present  time  recourse  is  not  had  to  such  expe- 
dients, but  the  means  now  employed  are  no 
less    singular.     The   academic  pupils   do  not 
scruple  to  frequent  the  cafes,  restaurants,  and 
public-houses  of  the  neighbourhood.  There  they 
are  sometimes  so  intoxicated  as  to  lose  all  con- 
sciousness, and  are  obliged  to  be  carried  home 
•  to  the  academy  on  a  hand-barrow.  In  the  slang 
oi  the  place  this  act  is  known  as  the  Transla- 
tion of  the  Relics."^    When  it  is  desired  to  in- 
duce one  of  these  students  to  embrace  the  reli- 
us  life  spite  of  his  repugnance,  they  watch 

*  UepeneceHie  lecTHbixi  Momeii. 


Chap.  II.  The  Black  Clergy,  85 

that  he  become  in  his  turn  the  hero  of  one  of 
these  orgies.  The  next  day,  when  he  has  re- 
covered his  senses,  the  superior  summon-  iiiiii 
to  his  house,  rates  him  soundly,  and  in!  riu^ 
him  of  his  expulsion.  The  sin  tin  i,  Inwi  vein 
is  ready  to  pardon,  to  forget  i  v  i  \  li  in.  li  tin 
offender  give  him  evidence  of  a  bmcein  n  ]h  nt> 
ance.  Of  this  he  accepts  ^  one  proni — tin 
signature  of  the  student  to  a  paper  conn)  iuiiig 
a  request  that  he  may  be  allowed  to  make  Lis 
religious  profession. 

Such  a  fact  is  of  unquestionable  gr^  'ty. 
Without  doubt  'tis  a  very  lamentable  tliiiiir 
that  a  seminarist  should  frequent  a  t;i\i  rn,  and 
there  be  allowed  to  lose  his  senses;  luii  h  tho 
offender  were  instantly  excluded,  it  n  nil 
become  only  an  accident,  and  the  superior's 
responsibility  would  not  be  seriously  compro- 
mised. It  is,  however,  a  fact  of  common  occur- 
rence, and  hence  unpardonable.  It  is,  more- 
ever,  joked  about,  which  makes  tlie  matter 
graver  still.  Finally,  what  seems  quite  in- 
credible,  the  superiors  pruiit  I)y  tliis  debauch 
tu  ibrce  the  victim  of  it  tn  lanbrace  tliu  rnligi- 
ous  life.  That  which  ought  to  cause  perpetual 
ux-lusion  srives,  on  tlir  Cdiitrarv,  adini>sioii 
wnin  1  the  gates  of  the  cloister. 

In  order  to  realise  iknsc  straiiiTi*  inaiiners. 


let  the  reader  ii 


exaHi|de^  a 


st^* 


86 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II- 


^1  ! 


1     ! 


1* 


young  English  seminarist  brought  to  the  semi- 
nar}' in  a  state  of  complete  insensibility  after  a 
drinking  bout,  and  the  superior  offering  him 
next  day  his  pardon,  on  condition  of  his  enter- 
ing the  community  having  the  direction  of 
the  establishment.  Let  him  then  try  to  under- 
stand what  the  seminary  would  bo,  what  the 
clergy,  the  bishops,  the  religious  congregations, 
if  such  a  fact  were  only  possible,  and  let  liim 
then  measure  the  distance  which  separates  the 
Eussian  clergy  from  the  English. 

AYo  must  farther  remark  here  on  the  idea 
these  superiors  must  have  of  vocation,  of  pro- 
fession, and  of  the  religious  life,  while  admitting 
to  solemn  vows  such  a  subject,  without  Iraiisl- 
tion,  without  preparation,  without  amendment. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  fundamental  basis 
of  all  religious  life — vocation — is  wanting  in 
the  Eussian  convents.  It  is  not  fear  of  the 
world  and  its  seductions,  the  attraction  of  soli- 
tude and  prayer,  the  desire  of  leading  a  life  of 
penitence,  or  of  working  towards  perfection :  it 
is  not  zeal  for  souls,  love  for  Jesus  Christ,  the 
need  of  devotion  and  self-denial,  that  fill  these 
houses.  "We  must  not,  however,  be  deceived. 
These  attractions  of  the  cloister  are  met  with 
in  Eussiu  much  oftener  than  one  would  be 
disposed  to  1^  ;  ove;  but  Eussian  convents  are 
unable  to  satisfy  these  aspirations.    The  souls^ 


Chap.  II. 


Tlte  Black  Clergy. 


87 


then,  which  feel  these  holv  desires  do  not 
there  present  themselves ;  they  do  not  remain 
there.  Some  think  to  find  the  realisation  <if 
their  desires  in  the  East,  tuifl  un  lu  Mount 
Athos  or  to  rulestine,  but  liuti  iIk^iv  <*ii]v 
bitter  disappointment.  Others  go  and  Ivnoik 
at  the  convent  irato  of  the  Eascolnik>,  wiiii  n  ) 
better  success.  ::  .  ;  \  they  who  have  kaini 
that  the  Catholic  Church  alone  possesses  r  ■" 
treats  where  their  dreams  can  become  realities. 
After  vocation  the  ini^i  btagc  of  tlio  ici;- 
gious  life  is  the  novitiate.  It  is  necessary,  in 
order  that  vocation  may  be  really  testetl  aial 
that  the  soul  which  aspires  to  take  before  (  <  il 
irrovocable  engagements,  ma}  Ikivo  lime  to 
maturely  reflect  on  the  c-rave  stei>  it  is  modi- 
tating.  it  is  farther  necessary  tijat  it  rliuuld 
be  instructed  in  the  duties  of  the  life  w  liich  it 
is  going  henceforth  to  lead,  that  ii  oo  formed 
to  the  practice  of  the  rules  it  ib  aludt  to  follow, 
and  of  the  virtues  which  it  must  force  itsell  u^ 
acquire ;  for  in  all  this  consists  the  novitiate. 
IS'ow,  the  novitiate  in  the  "Russian  convents  i< 
just  as  much  wanting  as  is  tliO  vocation.  The 
pupils  of  the  theological  academies  who  i  iii" 
brace  the  religious  life  make  their  profession 
withont  a  novitiate,  and  it  ivm  happens  tiuit 
they  attain  the  Episcopate  without  ever  ha^  in- 
lived  ill  a  convent. 


I    k 


I 


1 


1        ? 

i       « 
!      s 

!  ! 

"'   i 

til 


I  i 


I  I 


88 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


Here  a  circumstance  occurs  which  we  can- 
not pass  by  in  silence.     According  to  "Rii^sioTi 
legislation,  as  we  have  seen,  women  cannot  pro- 
fess before  the  age  of  forty ;  men  are  allowed 
to  pronounce  their  vows  at  thirty,  and  for  the 
academy  piipi]^  the  iinul  has  beon  Inworod  to 
twenty-five.      These  are  not  the  prescript  iuus 
ui:  the  cmu'Yi   law,  but   nl'  i|k>  chih       It  very 
often  liappens  that  a  yomig  inuii  lias  iinidieil 
his  studies  before  tweuty-ilvo.  ^nmo  at  twenty- 
three,   some  even  at  nineteen.      In  unkr   li) 
obtain  the  authurijsatioii  1^  Imng  about  liis  pro- 
fession,  instead  of  procuring  u   di,>p(  ii>atiuii, 
ialso  documents  are  sent    stating  that    lie  is 
twenty-five.    The  religious  superiors  wliu  ^i  n  I 
these  documents,  the  la^hops  and  mc mbers  of 
the  Synod  who  receive  ihti  i,  ixriuclh   kiiow 
that  recourse  has  been  ha!  tu  iidsehood  :   lH)f!i 
prcier  to  commit  a  sin  "^•atliri'  ihau  \a-!atn  up 
imperial  ordinance,  which  could  easily  be  re- 
pealed or  dispensed  from.     But,  in  iin  ii  oves 
a  ukase  is  more  inviolable  than  a  command- 
ment of  God. 

As  to  the  seminarists  who  have  not  been 
able  to  finish  their  studies,  they  are  not  so 
urged  to  take  irrevocable  engagements,  but 
await  their  tluitieth  year;  their  novitiate  is 
therefore  very  Imh-.  But  how  i-)  tlii:.  nn\-itiaiu 
ru--'ni  r     Tl.ij  yuiitJis  rocoivo  no  instruction  in 


H 


\  f 


(0 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


89 


the  religious  life,  do  not  learn  to  pray,  to  ex- 
amine their  consciences,  to  combat  their  evil 
inclinations,  nor  do  they  even  n  c  oivo  books 
which  might  strengthen  their  goiHl  dis])  si- 
tions:  no  surveillance  ib  ex  ici<(Ml  iivcjllann 
no  loving  advice  ^iven  them;  tlnre  is  wi  uno 
to  whom  to  open  tiaai*  In^art^N  to  speak  of  their 
temptations,  their  d"[i'iA>,  tlieir  inward  tmnbu^s. 
Tliey  have  no  n- A-iiiati-nuister ;  tiiey  do  nut 
frequent  tlie  Saeraiiiiau- ;  iheir  |n'ineipal  ncvii- 
patiun  IS  t'*  ri^ntai'  sta;\"ieo  t^)  tlaa  nieidv  a\']io  is 

i''iiii   them  for  the  ndiiriniis  liie. 


C    1    1     T      1  1      i    r      .    .    ■     '      1  i  ^ 

i        i 

Tlirv  assist  in  \cr\'  Imho.  ntH^rs 


■wliirli  spoak 
tu   tlieir 


neither  to  their  underst  laH  iir  noi 
heart.  The  rest  of  tlnar  tiim  is  passed  in  play- 
ing and  amusing  themselves,  and  (do  n.  wo 
mn^t  ^ay,  f-hcir  pleasures  are  anythinu;  but 
religious.  When  they  are  -\vcar\^  beliind  tiio 
cloister  walls,  there  is  always  the  means  nf 
exit,  with  or  without  leiiiussion.  b\  dav  or 
night. 

The  monks  who  do  not  come  from  acade- 
mies and  seminaries  generally  arrive  when 
advanced  in  age:  they  are  no  lungii  ea[able 
of  being  moulded,  even  ^hen  they  wi>li  it.  If 
no  novitiate,  then  im  religious  Hfc ;  it  eannut 
be  otherwise.  Elsewhere,  the  rule  knuwn  to 
alb   n])..erved  bv  alb   natives   eardi   nnderstan«l 


€Vtnv  daY 


Ilia  l]ie  truth  of  the  Sa^dunr'; 


/' 


I  •iiiiiiiiMiiaifwriM 


.c 


\ 


90 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Cbap.  II. 


words :  ^  My  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden  is 
light.'     In  the  Eussian  monasteries  there  i& 
nothing  like  it.    Now  there  is  extreme  laxness, 
now  the  despotism  of  a  capricious  superior; 
sometimes  both  at  once.     Still  following  our 
author,  as  to  the  rule,  it  is  nowhere  observed. 
The  same  thing  must  be  said  of  vows.     Take, 
for  example,  poverty.     There  are  in  Eussia  a 
few  convents  on  which  community-life  has  been 
imposed ;  there  all  the  wants  of  the  religious 
are  provided  for — nothing  is  one's  own.     But 
these  monasteries  are  very  few,  and  the  monks 
who  live  there  in  general  sigh  only  for  the 
moment  of  their  being  able  to  quit.     In  other 
convents  the  monks  receive  lodging,  fuel,  and 
nourishment;  their  clothing,  their  shoes,  and 
their  other  necessaries,  are  at  their  own  ex- 
pense.    The   revenues   are  divided  into  two 
parts;  the  one  goes  into  the  treasure- chest,  the 
other  is  divided  among  the  monks,  without 
forgetting,  as  we  have  said,  that  out  of  it  the 
superiors  have  to  emich  themselves  and  their 
relativr-. 

Tliu  rule  forbidding  the  use  of  meat  to  the 
monks  of  ?t.  Easil  is  often  put  aside,  especially 
L\  those  who  ought  to  set  an  example.  A& 
to  drunkenness,  our  author  cites  a  multitude 
of  facts,  each  one  exceeding  its  predecessor  in 
sadness.     It  is  not  rare  to  see  monks,  profes- 


,/  ^ 


^ 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy, 


91 


sors,  seminary -directors,  archimandrites,  the 
bishops  themselves,  seeking  in  (liiiiikenness 
oblivion  of  their  vexations.  After  that,  one 
can  imagine  what  becoTiics  of  the  vow  of  r']iii>" 
tity.  Our  author  has  had  the  good  taste  not 
to  enter  into  much  detail  in  this  subject ;  I'Ui 
the  little  he  says  suflGices  to  show  us  that  the 
vow  is  often  broken.  We  ought,  LuWiMi-  t  > 
add  that,  among  the  bishops  and  the  moiik.<j 
a  certain  number  are  remarkable  for  ihi  ir  lom- 
perance,  sobriety,  and  even  for  penitence  and 
mortification.  We  could  by  no  means  insist 
too  much  on  this  point :  the  evil  is  not  in  the 
men,  but  in  the  institutions. 

As  to  obedience,  at  first  sight  it  seems  that 
it  is  better  observed  than  the  other  two  vows ; 
looked  at  nua-e  closely,  it  is  soon  perceived  to 
be  an  obedience  wholly  human,  devoid  of  su- 
purnatural  views,  h'dxiwj:  nothing  in  coiiiiiiuii 
witli  the  virtue  so  earnestly  recommended  1)\ 
all  the  ascetic  authors  -wliu  have  treatcil  uf  th,c 
religious  life;  often  it  \<  euiy  servility. 

t„'f  view,  siiiiiiiicil 


.1 1  i  t 


author   I'f 


I  jti,  L 


.t'i 


We  have,  fi'.aii  uur  ij 
m'>  the  facts  furnished  I  v  tiic 

A.  *■ 

Innjk   tMi   rj:-   WliitC  iOKllMack   1*1 

reference  to  what  concurns  vocation, 
pruti'Sbiuii,  the  obser\'utiun  ^n  \~iav>>,   iind  the 
rul I ,  We  have  omitted  many  refiections  appear- 


u  sneeial 


vitiate. 


til 


<  f 


iTclevant,  and  discovering,  in  our  opiuiunj 


•m.^^^L 


t;^^imm^mmm.— 


1 

/ 


92 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


Chap.  II. 


a  spirit  hostile  to  religious  institutions.  We 
have  not  dwelt  upon  faults  inseparable  from 
human  nature ;  we  are  disposed  to  think  that 
the  author  has  preferred  dwelling  on  the  dark 
sides  of  the  picture,  and  that  he  has  left  in  the 
shade  whatever  could  lessen  the  gloom.  We 
willingly  admit  that  there  are  exceptions ;  it  ne- 
vertheless results  from  what  we  have  seen,  that 
the  Eussian  monasteries  are  in  a  very  bad  state. 

It  remains  for  us  to  say  a  few  words  on  a 
side  of  the  question  on  which  our  author  has 
not  touched,  but  which,  however,  is  very  im- 
portant. We  refer  to  the  government  of  the 
monasteries,  the  mode  of  nomination  of  the 
superiors,  and  their  relations  with  the  bishops 
and  the  Synod. 

A  religious  Order  is  an  association ;  those 
who  are  members  of  it  propose  to  themselves 
a  definite  end,  at  which  they  aim  by  definite 
means.  It  is  in  verifying  the  agreement  of 
will,  both  as  to  the  end  and  means,  between 
him  who  presents  himself,  and  the  society  into 
which  he  desires  admission,  that  his  vocation 
can  be  judged  of.  On  entering  the  religious 
life  a  man  renounces  everything,  abdicates  his 
own  right  to  will ;  but  every  sacrifice  is  joy- 
ftdly  made  in  view  of  the  end  proposed.  Ab- 
negation cannot  go  so  far  as  to  sacrifice  this 
end.   If  you  consent  to  do  the  will  of  a  superior 


Tlie  Black  Clergy. 


93 


ill  all  the  details  of  life,  it  is  on  the  condition 
tliat  he  will  direct  you  towards  the  goal,  to 
gain  i^'hich  you  abandon  \"=rur  c^wii  will.  J'^-r 
tliis  guarantees  are  necessary,  and  one  of  these 


i>  I 


liat  the  superior  himself  have 


I  h 


1 J 


10  saino  0 


1). 


ject  before  him^  and  that  for  it  he  also  have 
Forrificed  everything.  Tn  a  word,  ho  mubt  1iO 
a  member  of  the  association.  This  is  not  all : 
he  must  possess  the  confidence  of  his  associates, 
he  must  have  their  approbation ;  also  in  every 
religious  Order  the  superior  is  chosen  by  elec- 
tion. It  is  farther  necessary  that,  under  the 
authority  and  supervision  of  the  Church,  every 
religious  Order  should  enjoy  a  certain  inde- 
pendence, that  it  may  be  assured  of  not  being 
thwarted  of  its  end,  but  may  be  able  to  reach 
if  T»\'  the  means  the  association  has  chosen. 
Ui.  the  contrary,  that  a  religious  order  should 
come  to  be  governed  by  a  man  who  is  a  stranger 
to  it,  would  obviously  disorganise  the  whole. 
Of  this  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  especi- 
ally of  the  religious  orders,  is  full  of  examples. 
In  the  Church  of  the  East,  which  saw  the 
first  religious  communities  formed  in  its  bo- 
som, these  elementary  principles  have  been 
always  embodied  m  practice.  To  this  iiiay  be 
attributed  the  enduring  prosperity  of  3 


i.  ••„'  iXkL  U 


Atho?2,     But  you  would  look  in  \mn  fbr  any- 
thing like  it  in  the  Eussian  convents.     TruCj 


94 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


€hap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy. 


95 


the  Synod  miglit  exercise  over  them  a  right 
of  control  and  inspection,  but  this  does  not 
exist.  The  great  latiresj  which  ought  to  be 
the  very  abodes  of  the  religious  spirit,  do  not 
choose  their  archimandrites.  Borrowing,  very 
improperly,  of  Western  Europe  one  of  its  most 
regrettable  inventions,  the  Eussian  metropo- 
litans are  become  abbots- commendatory  of  the 
laures^  and  the  bishops  of  the  different  sees 
equally  receive  in  commandery  a  monastery 
of  their  dioceses.  Everywhere  the  bureaucracy 
names  the  superiors.*  These  render  an  ac- 
count of  their  management  to  the  Synod — to 
the  Synod  they  are  responsible ;  and  when  we 
say  the  Synod,  we  shall  hereafter  see  that  we 
mean,  in  fact,  the  bureau  of  a  minister.  Con- 
sequently, all  these  posts,  of  archimandrites 
(abbots),  hegoumens  (priors),  superiors,  &c., 
have  become  the  different  steps  of  a  career. 
For  all  those  who  follow  it,  advancement  is  the 
principal  motive ;  they  therefore  think  only 
of  making  themselves  acceptable  to  those  on 
whom  they  depend.  All  this  bureaucratic  or- 
ganisation is  at  complete  variance  with  the 
exigencies  and  needs  of  the  religious  life. 

To  us  it  appears  demonstrated  by  all  that 

*  The  only  exception  made  is  in  the  case  of  a  very  small  num- 
ber of  convents,  chosen  among  those  which  have  adopted  the 
community-life. 


has  gone  before,  that  the  monastic  life  in  Eussia 
exists  henceforth  only  in  appearance :  as  to 
veritable  monks — to  a  relidons  nnli 


l>rnpor!v 


so  called — none  such  exist.  Eeforms  could 
indeed  be  proposed;  but  so  great  has  becii  the 
progress  of  evil,  that  reforms  the  most  radical 
would  avail  nothing.  The  day  that  the  clergy 
in  Eussia  shall  cease  to  exist  as  a  caste — that 
a  secular  celibate  clergy  shall  be  formed — will 
be  the  day  when  all  the  monasteries  will  fall, 
the  whole  actual  monastic  organisation  will 
disappear. 

It  may  be  that  the  convents  in  which  the 
commimity-life  has  been  introduced  would  be 
susceptible  of  reform.     The  monasteries  would 
then   have   to   be   divided   into  two   distinct 
classes.     Those  not  having  adopted  the  com- 
munity-life should  be  left  to  die ;  the  rest,  if 
reformable,  should  be  united  into  a  single  con- 
gregation, or  rather  should  labour  to  create 
several  congregations.     The  religious  has  for 
his  aim  to  labour  for  his  salvation  and  perfec- 
tion—-to  sanctify  himself;  but  alongside  this 
general  aim,   he  can  have  a  particular   uiie. 
Some  give  themselves  to  the  contemplative  life, 
some  to  foreign  missions  or  to  the  education  of 
children,  to  the  study  and  teaching  of  sacred 
science,  to  preaching,  to  the  direction  of  soub. 
to  care  for  the  sick,  &c.  &c.     Why  sh       1  it 


%j 


96 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap,  n 


a  monastery  be  chosen  as  the  centre  of  a  con- 
gregation for  foreign  missions  ?  Another  would 
serve  as  a  centre  for  an  hospital  congregation, 
another  for  a  teaching  congregation,  another 
for  preachers,  and  so  on.     An  appeal  -would 
be  made  to  those  monks  who  had  adopted  the 
community-life,  and  they  would  be  induced  to 
choose  one  or  other  kind  of  occupation.     From 
among  those  who  would  present  themselves 
would  be  chosen  the  most  pious,  the  most  re- 
gular, the  most  zealous,  and  the  most  capable, 
and  they  would  form  the  nucleus  of  new  con- 
gregations,   according   to   the   bias   they  had 
manifested.    In  order  to  organise  these  congre- 
gations, it  would  above  all  be  necessary  to 
leave  entire  liberty  to  all  those  who  would  be 
willing  to  enter  them,  without  any  other  limit 
as  to  age  than  that  determined  by  the  canon 
law.      At  the  same  time,   the   congregations 
themselves  should  be  very  strict  as  to  admis- 
sions, very  compliant  as  to  dismissions.     The 
best  means  of  preventing  laxness  creeping  into 
a  community  is  to  open  reluctantly  their  doors 
for  those  who  would  come  in,   and  to  open 
them  willingly  to  those  who  would  go  out.    It 
would  still  be  necessary  that  vocation  should 
be  seriously  tried  during  a  year  or  two  by 
means  of  the  novitiate,  all  the  novices  being 
gathered  together  and  placed  under  the  direc- 


Chap.  II. 


The  Black  Clergy, 


97 


tion  of  a  master  chosen  with  the  greatest  care. 
1  111   superior  should  be  elcetru  liy  the  moin- 
Ih  1-   tf  the  congregation,  will    ut  any  interfer- 
i'licv  I  J*  the  civil  authority,  of  the  S}^ikmK  or 
of  tlio   bishops.      The  ecclesiastical  authority 
should  confine  itself  to  taking  the  iir  r^>:irv 
measures  to  secure  the  freedom  of  the  eleetiun. 
When  a  congregation  shall  have  developed  it- 
self it  will  be  able  to  occupy  several  huu^ud, 
plaood  under  the   authority  of  one  superior- 
general,  each  house  having  a  local  superior. 
Tho  particular  end  proposed  to  itself  by  each 
congregation,  the  most  proper  means  to  attain 
it,  niul  the  practical  counsels  which  experience 
shall  suggest,  will  be  the  subject-matt  ii  of  tho 
special  constitutions  of  each  congregation,  and 
become  the  comjDlement  to  the  Enle  ui  bt.  Basil, 
which  shall  be  religiously  observed.     The  for- 
mation  of  congregations,   composed   of  many 
houses,  bound  to  a  common  centre,  is  com- 
pletely misrepresented  by  some  Eussian  au- 
thors as  an  innovation  borrowed  from  the  Latin 
Church.     We  have  before  seen  that  the  fact 
formerly  existed  in  Eussia,  and  that  its  aboli- 
tion has  been  for  the  interest  neither  of  the 
monasteries  nor  of  the  Church. 

Here  in  few  words  i?^  tho  schenic  of  mea- 
sures to  be  taken  for  reformii  .  lie  moiia  u  i  ii  >, 
if  they  succeed  in  finding  tlit    iieccssarv  ele- 


98 


The  Black  Clergy. 


Chap.  II. 


ments  in  the  convents  where  community  life 
is  practised.  We  would  prefer  that,  leaving 
on  one  side  whatever  exists,  men  of  good  dis- 
position should  be  allowed  to  found  new  com- 
munities. We  said  just  now,  'tis  not  the  men 
who  are  in  fault,  but  the  institutions:  the  ruin 
of  the  monasteries  has  arisen  from  the  inter- 
vention of  the  bureaucracy,  the  regulations,  and 
the  want  of  independence.  Will  liberty  raise  up 
new  communities?  Will  it  create  more  order, 
more  regularity,  more  zeal?  The  essence  of 
life,  the  force  of  religious  orders,  is  the  spirit 
that  animates  them ;  and  this  spixit,  where  will 
it  be  found?  Tro  do  not  know;  but  we  should 
wish  the  experiment  tried. 

Eussia  has  gloriously  freed  herself  from  the 
leprosy  of  serfdom  ;  she  is  now  on  the  road  to 
freedom  from  the  yoke  of  a  harassing  bureau- 
cracy, venal  and  corrupt.  The  monasteries 
claim  the  same  reforms:  they  demand  to  be 
emancipated,  to  live  their  own  life.  Take  away 
the  multiplied  impediments  which  clog  voca- 
tions, foundations,  and  the  whole  organisation 
of  the  religious  life,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
abuses  now  complained  of  will  disappear.  Let 
the  people  be  free  to  give  alms  to  the  convents, 
if  it  seem  good  to  them.  You  complain  that 
the  monks  sometimes  employ  means  not  war- 
ranted by  morality  to  draw  to  themselves  larger 


Chap.  11. 


' 


The  Black  Clergy. 


99 


gifts.  The  press  and  the  tribunals  are  sufficient 
to  repress  the  disorders  which  would  arise  ; 
keep  to  the  common  law. 

By  the  side  of  the  monasteries  oi  tho  official 
Church  leave  to  the  staroveres,  leave  to  tln'  (Ai- 
tholics  also,  the  liberty  to  estilii-li  runviiiis; 
free  them  from  an  oppressive  u  laiihiii-lujK 
Justice  demands  it,  your  interest  i\'It^.'x'<  \\  itli 
her:  you  know  not  all  the  utnitv  th  t  vutir 
convents  can  draw  from  a  free  compel  it  luii. 
We  wish  not  to  deny  that  among  the  Catholic 
convents  there  have  been  some — some  tiuit  arc 
still — into  which  abuses  have  crept,  and  w  Iiii  li 
laxness  has  invaded.  But  i^^  1  ack  tu  tlu^ 
causes,  and  you  will  recognise  that,  aliiio>i  al- 
ways, if  not  always,  the  root  of  the  evil  i-  in 
uu  excessive  guardianship  on  the  part  of  tiic 
state.  It  is  the  public  v^liic'^i  sustains  com- 
munities; it  furnishes  their  membcis,  irives 
them  those  material  resources  witla  a  uil  li 
they  could  not  subsist.  The  iniliH  i>  u  ;  it  - 
ceived  in  this  matter:  it  will  sustain  the  u-*  lul 
communities;  from  the  useless  it  will  witL draw 
its  support.  If  you  find  exceptions  tj  t hi-  law, 
thov  are  all  explained  In  a  sin«rlecau>e    iiunu- 

K'  X  »■  V.,' 

puha  With  free  concurrence,  iiutliiiig  ^jf  tlic 
kind  is  to  be  feared. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  SCHOOLS. 

We  have  not  to  write  the  history  of  the  eccle- 
siastical schools  in  Eussia ;  we  shall,  however, 
say  a  few  words  about  them. 

It  is  not  doubtful  that,  under  Jaroslav  and 
his  successors,  the  sacred  sciences  were  culti- 
vated at  Kieff.*     It  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
Eussian  Church,  in  the  first  days  of  its  founda- 
tion, resembled  that  torch  spoken  of  in  Scrip- 
ture as  brightly  burning,  diffusing  all  around 
it  light  and  heat.     Little  by  little  the  light 
goes  out,  the  heat  withdraws,  darkness  over- 
spreads minds,  and  hearts  grow  cold.     Those 
who  are  aware  that  in  her  beginnings  the  Eus- 
sian Church  had  not  broken  the  bonds  which 
bound  her  to  the  Universal  Church  have  no 
cause  for  surprise.     The  regions  of  the  north- 
east, formerly  called  Muscovy,  and  now  bear- 
ing  the  name  of  Great  Eussia,  have  shared  less 

*  How  in  Russia,  pre\'iou8ly  to  the  Mongol  invasion  (1240), 
sacred  science  was  extensively  and  successfully  cultivated,  see 
Strahl,  Das  gelehrte  Eussland,  Leipzig,  1828,  8vo.  iTra7is.) 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


lOi. 


than  the  south-west,  called  Little  Eussia,  in 
this  expansion  of  Christian  life,  without  being 
completely  deprived  of  it. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  darkness  be- 
came singularly  thick ;  we  wish  no  other  proof 
of  this  than  the  celebrated  Council  of  Moscow 
in  1551,  known  in  history  under  the  name 
of  Stoglaff,  or  Council  of  the  Hundred  Chap- 
ters.* 

The  torch  of  sacred  science  was  rekindled  at 
Kieff  at  the  contact  of  the  Eussian  Church  with 
the  Catholic,  of  the  Greek  rite  with  the  Latin. 
The  first  place  among  the  ecclesiastiool  schools 
of  Eussia  belongs  unquestionably  to  the  Aca- 
demy of  Kieff,  founded  in  1631  by  Peter  Mo- 
ghila.  This  remarkable  man  was  the  son 
of  a  hospodar  of  Walachia,  named  Simeon  Iva- 
novich.  After  hating  studied  philosophy  and 
theology  at  Paris  he  served  with  distinction  in 
the  Polish  army,  and  particularly  signalised 
himself  at  the  battle  of  Khotin,  163L  Four 
years  afterwards  he  embraced  the  monastic  life 
in  the  convent  of  the  Crypts  at  Kieff;  in  1628 
he  was  archimandrite  of  this  celebrated  Laure^ 
and  shortly  after  was  called  to  the  see  of 
Kieff.  As  metropolitanhegovemGd  the  ununited 

♦  Cto— LiaBT..  The  decrees  of  this  Council  were  a  few  years 
■ago  published  in  London.  The  Staroveres  lean  on  the  authority 
of  this  Council,  while  it  is  rejected  by  the  official  Church. 


I  ' 

1 


102  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  cuap.  iii. 

Cliurcli  in  the  States  of  the  Polish  Eepublic 
from  1632  to  1646,  the  date  of  his  death.   One 
of  his  first  cares  had  heen  to  found  a  printing 
estahlishment  and  a  school.     This  academy, 
as  it  was  called,  possessed,  besides  classes  for 
grammar,  chairs  of  philosophy  and  theology. 
The  instruction  was  given  principally  in  Latm, 
but  Polish  and  Little  Eussian  were  also  used ; 
the  study  of  Greek  was  much  neglected.     The 
best  students  were  sent  to  finish  to  the  Col- 
lege of  Lemberg,  and  to  other  Catholic  schools. 
Moghila  is  the  author  of  a  catechism,*  or  '  ex- 
position of  the  orthodox  faith,'  solemnly  ap- 
proved by  the  Greek  Church   at  the  Council 
of  Jassy  in  1643,  and  at  that  of  Jerusalem  in 
1672,  and  equally  received  by  Adrian,  patriarch 
of  Moscow.    It  may  be  said  that  the  doctrine  of 
this  catechism,  except  the  question  of  the  Fope 
and  that  of  the  Filioqtce,  is  Catholic.    At  Kieff 
the  Summa  Theologica  of  St.  Thomas  was  ex- 
pounded.  The  whole  organisation  of  the  classes 
was  traced  on  that  of  the  Catholic  colleges ;  at 
every  step   we   seem  to   recognise   the  ratio 
studiorum  of  the  Society  of  Jesus ;    we  find 
there  also  the  Congregation  of  the  Blessed  Yir- 

*  The  Eussian  title  is  npafiociaBBOo  HcnoBtjaaic  KaeoJuiecKOtt 
H  AnocTOJicKOH  ^epKBH  BocToiHoB.  This  Catechism,  in  Greek  and 
Latin,  can  be  seen  in  Kimmel's  Monumenta  Fidei  Scclesue  (Men- 
ialh,  Jenaj,  1850.  An  English  translation  appeared  in  London  in 
1752.  (7Va»«.) 


* 


I 


'€ 


Chap.  III.  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  108 

gin.*  The  need  of  reacting  against  the  growing 
ignorance  of  the  clergy  soon  made  itself  felt 
at  Moscow.  The  celebrated  Nicon,  one  of  the 
greatest  figures  appearing  in  the  history  of  the 
Eussian  Church,  undertook  to  correct  the  text 
of  the  liturgical  books,  which  had  been  cor- 
rupted by  copyists.  The  resistance  encountered 
by  this  reform  showed  the  necessity  of  ha^^ng 

schools. 

The  Tsar  Feodor  had  just  succeeded  his 

father  Alexis ;  Nicon  was  still  alive,  and  one 
of  his  disciples,  Simeon  of  Polotsk,  exercised 
great  influence  at  coui't.     This  Simeon  was  a 
man  of  merit,  born  at  Polotsk  in  1628.     Ar- 
rived in  Eussia  (1667),  after  having  studied  in 
Poland,  and  frequented  the  Catholic  schools, 
he  had  been  charged  with  the  education  of 
Peodor.     At  the  same  time  he  refuted  by  sub- 
stantial writings  the  errors  of  the  Eascolniks 
(dissenters),  and  composed  dramas  which  were 
represented  in  the  apartments  of  the  Princess 
Sophia,  the  daughter  of  Alexis.  When  his  pupil 
mounted  the  throne,  he  profited  by  the  credit  he 
enjoyed  to  establish  a  printing-press  in  the  pal- 
ace ;  then  he  set  himself  to  preach.   This  was  a 
bold  innovation :  before  him  the  most  any  one  had 
done  was  to  read  some  homilies  borrowed  from 

♦  Cf.  Mudes  de  Tlieologiey  de  PJiilosophie,  et  d'Histoire,  par  les 
PP.  C.  Daniel  et  J.  Gagarin,  S.J.  (Paris,  1857),  Tol.  i.  p.  39. 


104 


Eeclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  III. 


the  holy  Fathers;  besides,  he  manifested  Ca- 
tholic tendencies.  This  was  more  than  enough 
to  irritate  the  narrow-minded  patriarch  Joa- 
chim; but  Simeon,  strong  in  the  friendship 
of  the  Tsar,  little  feared  the  wrath  of  the  pa- 
triarch, and  even  thought  of  depriving  him 
of  the  supreme  dignity.  His  plan  was  to  re- 
place at  the  head  of  the  Eussian  Church  his 
master  Nicon,  who  was  living  in  exile,  after 
having  been  deposed  by  order  of  Alexis.  In 
order  to  prevent  a  schism,  Simeon  proposed  to 
the  Tsar  to  create  four  patriarchs  in  place  of 
the  four  metropolitans,  and  to  put  over  them 
jSTicon  with  the  title  of  pope.  It  needed  but 
little  to  put  this  project  into  execution. 

The  better  to  explain  the  situation,  let  us 
farther  say  that  Catholic  ideas  were  under  this 
reign  received  at  the  court  with  favour.  Eussia 
was  maintaining  the  best  relations  with  Poland.* 
Feodor  had  in  1680  married  a  young  lady  of 
Polish  origin,  named  Agatha  Grouchetzka,  to 
whom  was  attributed  a  leaning  towards  Catho- 
licism. In  consequence  of  this  marriage  the 
Polish  costume  was  generally  adopted  at  court. 
Feodor's  foreign  policy  hinged  upon  a  strict 
alliance  with  Poland,  and  the  formation  of  a 
league  against  the  Turk,   into   which  should 

*  M.  Stchebalski  affinns  it.    See  pyccKiii  .^BtcTHHKT»  {Russian 
Messenger)^  Oct.  1863,  p.  767. 


€hap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


105 


enter  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  the  Pope,  and 
the  Venetian  Eepublic. 

It  was  in  these  circumstances  that  Simeon 
conceived  the  plan  of  founding  at  11  -ccav  a 
school  destined  to  spread  civilisation  among 
both  the  clergy  and  the  people.  Scarcely  had 
he  laid  its  foundations  when  he  died.  The  only 
man  who  could  withstand  the  patriarch  thus 
disappearing,  the  designs  favoured  by  the  Tsar 
became  compromised :  he  knew  not  to  whom 
to  confide  the  direction  of  the  school,  and, 
fearing  the  opposition  of  Joachim,  he  hesitated 
to  procure  masters  from  Kieff.  He  then  pro- 
fited by  an  embassy  he  was  sending  to  the  Sul- 
tan to  ask  for  professors  of  the  patriarch  of 
Constantinople.  The  embassy  set  out  in  1681 ; 
the  year  following  Feodor  died,  and  power 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Sophia,  the  faithful 
heiress  of  his  policy.  In  1684  two  Jesuits  ar- 
rived at  Moscow  with  an  ambassador  from  the 
Emperor  of  Germany,  and  obtained  without 
•difficulty  permission  to  remain  in  that  city. 
To  us  it  not  doubtful  that  Sophia,  and  Galitzin 
her  minister,  had  intended  to  intrust  the  school 
to  the  Jesuits. 

About  a  year  after  the  arrival  of  the  Jesuits, 
the  professors  sent  by  the  patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople made  their  appearance  in  the  capital. 
They  were  two  brothers,  natives  of  the  Ionian 


106 


Ecclesiastical  ScJwols. 


Chap.  III^ 


IsleSj  who  had  studied  at  Yenice  and  Padua. 
Their  real  name  was  Ly.cudes  ;*  they  changed 
it  to  that  of  Lykhudes,  and  by  the  aid  of  false 
genealogies  caused  themselves  to  be  recognised 
as  Bulgarian  princes.     They  were  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  new  school ;  the  Jesuits,  on 
their  side,  had  opened  another.    The  two  Ionian 
monks  soon  raised  a  theological  question  which 
inflamed  every  one,  clergy  and  laity,  men  and 
women.     The  question  was  whether,   in   the 
Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  the  bread  and  the  wine 
are  changed  into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  by  virtue  of  the  words  of  our  Lord, 
'  This  is  my  Body,  this  is  my  Blood,'  or  by  the 
invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Ejnclesis^-^ 
which  in  the  Eastern  Liturgy  follows  the  sacra- 
mental words.     The  strife  became  very  lively. 
On  the  one  side  were  all  those  who  inclined  to 
Catholicism,  as  Sylvester  Medvedeff,  superior 
of  the  Convent  Zaikonospaski,  the  monk  Sabbas 
Dolgui,  the  prior  Innocent,  a  layman  occupy- 
ing an  elevated  position,  Theodore  Stcheglovi- 
toy,  and  many  others.     The  patriarch  and  the 
two  monks,  with  all  those  who  were  hostile  to 

*  See,  for  biographical  notices  of  these  two  brothers,  Constan-. 
tine  Satha's  f^coeWrjviK^  4>L\oKoyia.—Bioypa<plai  -ruv  iy  ro7s  ypafifiaai 
diaKafx^dvruu  'EAX^vcov  dirb  rrjs  KaraXvaeus  TrjS  Bv^avrivr}?  uvroKpa- 
ropias  fxexpl  Tr}s  'EWriviKris  idyeyepaias,  1453-1821.  "Ev  'Adljvais  (1868),. 
p.  358.  {Trans.) 

f  See  on  this  question  Dr.  Hoppe's  Die  Fjnklcsls  der  griech- 
iscJien  und  orientalischen  Liturgieen,  und  der  romische  Consekra- 
tions  Kamn,     Schaffhausen,  1864. 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools, 


107 


the  Catholics,  ranged  themselves  under  the 
opposite  banner.  This  war  of  books  and  pam- 
phlets lasted  as  long  as  Sophia  remained  at  the 
head  of  the  government. 

On  August  17th,  1G89,  broke  out  the  revo- 
lution which  deprived  her  of  the  regency  and 
gave  the  sovereign  power  to  Peter  I.*  Two 
months  had  not  elapsed  before  Sophia  was  shut 
up  in  a  convent,  Galitzin  exiled,  Stcheglovitoy 
and  Sylvester  Medvedeff  delivered  to  the  exe- 
cutioner, the  Jesuits  expelled,  and  a  Protestant 
visionary  named  Kuhlman  burnt  alive.  It  is 
remarkable  that  Peter  I.  owed  his  elevation  to 
Joachim,  and  to  the  most  ignorant  of  the 
clergy:  Peter  cleared  off  his  debts  by  per- 
secuting foreigners  and  those  who  showed 
Catholic  tendencies.  The  triumph  of  the  party 
was  not  long.  Some  months  after,  the  inept 
patriarch  Joachim  died ;  in  1694  the  two 
monks,  denounced  and  treated  as  adventurers 
by  Dositheus  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  were  sent 
away  from  the  Slave  -  greco  -  latin  Academy. 
After  their  departure  it  lingered  on  for  some 
time  under  the  direction  of  their  pupils,  until 
in  1702  monks  were  sent  for  from  Kieff. 

Simeon  of  Polotsk,  the  brothers  Lykhudes, 
the  monks  of  Kieff,  had  all  derived  their  know- 

*  Lefort  had  founded  at  Moscow  a  Masonic  lodge,  and  Peter, 
it  is  said,  had  himself  initiated  therein. 


I 


108 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Cliap.  IIL 


ledge  in  the  "West  and  in  Catholic    schools. 
They  were  familiar  with  the  grammar  of  Al- 
varez,  the   methods   of  the  Jesuits,   and   the 
Summa  of  St.  Thomas.     From  this  an  idea 
can  be  formed  of  the  instruction  given  at  the 
Moscow  Academy :   it  was  an  imitation,  or  if 
you  like  a  counterfeit,  of  the  colleges  of  Ca- 
tholic Europe.     The  greater  part  of  the  pupils 
who  frequented  it  belonged  to  the  clergy  nei- 
ther by  birth  nor  by  vocation.    On  the  benches 
were  seen,  according  to  Smirnoff's  history  of 
this  academy,  by  the  side  of  priests,  deacons, 
and  monks,  young  men  of  all  conditions,  in- 
cluding aristocracy."*   It  appears,  however,  that 
the  taste  Jfor   letters   had   some   difficulty  in 
spreading  itself  at  Moscow.    In  1704,  of  thirty- 
four   pupils   in   philosophy,  three   names  are 
found  belonging  to  Great  Eussia ;  all  the  others 
to  White  Eussia  and  Poland. f   In  1736  we  find 
that  158  nobles  entered  the  academy,  among 
whom  we  distinguish  Galitzin,the  Dolgoroukys, 
and  the  Obolenskys.     The  spirit  of  caste  had 
not  yet  penetrated  there.     The  teaching  staff 
was  not  recruited  from  among  the  pupils  of 
the  house,  but  from  Kieff.     We  have  the  list 
of  rectors,  prefects,  and  professors,  from  1703 
till  1774:    almost  all  are    m<>Tik^  or  priests, 

♦  Smirnoff,  IICTopifl  MockobckoA  CiaBflno— FpeKO— .laTHHCKOu  Ana- 
4eMin  MocKBa  (1855),  p.  25.  t  I^i^-  P-  ^^• 


\      I 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


109 


natives  of  the  Ukraine  or  of  Poland,*  and  old 
pupils  at  Kieff.    What  is  the  origin  of  this  state 

At    3l«'>rij\r, 


*  i  ( 

%  I  k. 


kings?    The  ansA\i  r  i>  easy. 


time 


any  one 


I    villi  V. 


;t 


< « 1 1  r 


~.  '^ 


I  nil 


.  1 « >•  n 


i 


JUC 


li;L 


^^^  c^  -^ 


f  ■>  1, 1 1 


went  away  to   seek   tlioir  lortiiiie    eKow'iirre. 
A  irood  number  of  the  pupils  d  tu  i     i  a  limt- 
tance  to  the  hospital  of  Moscow,  to  learn  ine- 
dicine  there ;  others  applied  themselves  to  the 
study  of  mathematics,  which  opened  to  them 
access  to  various   careers ;    others  still  were 
occupied  at  the  press,  at  the  mint.  kc.     The 
gt  \emors  of  the  provinces  led  some  av.  i\  with 
them  to  become  professors  and  schoolmasters, 
&c.    Peter  I.  distributed  a  good  number  in  the 
navy  and  in  the  guard ;  others  he  sent  abroad 
to  prosecute  their  studies.    When  the  Academy 
of  Sciences  was  founded  at  Petersbiu'g,  attend- 
ants were  wanted  for  the  course  prescribed  to 
it:  these  were  taken  from  the  academy of^Fs- 
cow.     The  reforming  Tsar  had  addressed  hiin- 
self  to  the  Jesuits  of  Prague,  to  get  translated 
into  Eussian  works  on  law  and  dictionaries. 
lour  pupils  were  chosen  to  engage  in  this  work 
tiiider  the  direction  of  the  Fathers,  wlio  want 

*  Only  such  names  are  met  with  asKrasnopolski,WiszDew5ki\ 
Miegalewicz,  Florinski,  Kozlowicz,  Liaszczewski,  Bronicki,  Przy- 
]>v]owicz,  Kulczycki,  Kolniecki,  Konaszewicz,  Zaborowski,  Rud- 
zinski,  Leszczinski,  Czarnieckl,  Jaroszewski,  kc. 


110 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  IIL 


to  study  pHlosophy  and  letters  in  another  col- 
lege of  the  Jesuits.  Some  students  of  the 
academy  Peter  sent  to  the  mission  of  Pekin, 
established  by  him  for  a  purpose  rather  poli- 
tical than  religious,  but  which  required  the 
services  of  a  certain  number  of  monks  having 
some  degree  of  learning. 

In  short,  the  Academy  of  Moscow  was  used 
as  a  preparatory  school,  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  many  priests  have  proceeded  thence.  We 
find  in  the  list  of  pupils  beside  the  celebrated 
Lomonossoif,  Kostroff,  and  Petroff,  who  have 
made  a  certain  reputation  in  literature,  the 
Prince  Cantemir,  Bantysch-Kamenski,  the  ar- 
chitect Bajanoff ;  but  not  a  single  name  reflect- 
ing honour  on  the  clergy  before  that  of  the 
metropolitan  Platen. 

The  beginnings  of  the  Academy  of  Saint 
Alexander  If  evsky,  at  St.  Petersburg,  were  long 
subsequent  to  those  of  the  Academy  of  Mos- 
cow, and  much  more  Immble.  It  was  at  first 
only  a  simple  primary  school,  where  children 
of  every  condition  were  admitted.  Later  it 
was  desired  to  introduce  Latin;  but  the  school 
could  not  go  on — there  was  no  one  to  be  put 
at  its  head.  In  1736  recourse  was  again  had 
to  the  Academy  of  Kieff,  and  two  of  its  pupils 
succeeded  in  organising  some  classes.  Setting 
out  from  this  time,  the  Academy  of  Petersburg 


€liap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Ill 


followed  the  steps  of  that  of  Moscow,  present- 
ing however  some  notable  differences.  In  the 
teaching  staff  we  do  not  see  so  many  monks 
from  Kieff,  and  in  a  little  time  the  pupils  are 
recruited  almost  exclusively  from  the  sons  of 
ecclesiastics.  Here  also,  in  consequence  of  the 
paucity  of  men  who  had  studied  in  any  degree, 
the  administration  takes  away  a  great  number 
of  young  men,  to  launch  them  in  careers  the 
most  diverse,  before  they  have  passed  their 
classes.  The  Academy  of  Petersburg,  however, 
is  chiefly  a  normal  school,  where  are  prepared 
masters  for  all  newly-founded  schools.  Some 
of  the  most  capable  youths  are  sent  abroad  to 
complete  their  studies,  but  are  no  lon^  r  li- 
rected  to  Catholic  schools,  still  less  to  Jesuit 
colleges ;  they  go  into  Protestant  countries. 

Such  was  still  the  state  of  things  in  the 
first  years  of  the  reign  of  Catherine  II.  The 
reaction,  however,  the  first  symptoms  of  which 
we  have  just  pointed  out,  was  making  its  way. 
The  course  of  theology  of  Theophane  Proko- 
povich,  preserved  at  first  in  manuscript,  then 
committed  to  the  press,  profoundly  changed 
the  instruction  given  in  the  Eussian  schools, 
and  opened  the  door  to  Protestantism.*     It 

*  See  the  proofs  of  this  agsertion  detailed  in  our  article  en- 
titled *De  Venseignement  de  la  TJieologie  dans  VEglise  rtisse^^  in  the 
Etudes ^  &;c.  1st  series,  vol.  i. 


lOtmm 


112 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  III. 


t 


must  be  recollected,  that  for  eleven  years,  from 
1730  to  1741,  Eussia  was  governed  by  the 
Calvinist  Biren,  and  that  the  Enssian  Church 
was  then  subjected  to  a  real  persecution.  To 
this  we  must  say  she  opposed  but  a  feeble 
resistance. 

The  desire  to  display  sufficiently  clearly  the 
first  phases  of  the  history  of  the  ecclesiastical 
schools  has  perhaps  drawn  us  beyond  due 
limits.  To  describe  all  the  modifications  they 
have  undergone  to  the  present  time  would  be 
almost  impossible,  and  certainly  fastidious :  we 
confine  ourselves  to  indicate  the  general  fea- 
tures, throwing  a  clearer  light  on  a  few  im- 
portant points. 

If  we  designate  as  the  Old  that  system 
which  prevailed  at  Kieff,  and  left  so  deep  an 
impression  on  the  Academy  of  Moscow,  we  shall 
be  able  to  apply  the  name  New  system  to  the 
entirety  of  tendencies  which  showed  them- 
selves under  Peter  I.,  and  which,  in  spite  of 
partial  checks,  never  ceased  to  become  daily 
more  evident.  In  the  study  point  of  view, 
these  tendencies  may  be  gathered  up  into  three 
topics :  restricting  the  teaching  of  ancient  lan- 
guages in  favour  of  modem  ones,  of  literature 
in  favour  of  the  sciences,  of  sacred  studies  in 
favour  of  profane.  The  strife  between  the  two 
systems  presents  a  double   character — insta- 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


118 


bility  and  uniformity.  All  schools  are  sub- 
jected to  the  same  system,  and  thi-  -\  -u  lu  is 
continually  being  modified. 

It  would  be  vain  to  look  in  the  Eussian 
Church  for  teaching  congregations  strongly  or- 
ganised, faithful  to  their  traditions  and  method : 
there  is  no  longer  any  liberty  of  action  left  to 
the  bishops  in  the  direction  of  their  seminariis. 
The  ecclesiastical  schools,  which  in  their  origin 
were  a  little  independent,  and  had  a  spirit  pe- 
culiar to  themselves,  are  soon  seen  subject  to 
a  central  direction  which  made  all  establish- 
ments pass  under  the  same  level,  riiis  central 
authority,  placed  in  a  certain  dependence  on 
the  ^  nod,  suffered  also  more  or  less  the  in- 
fluence  of  the  lay  element.  The  new  system 
attempted  to  shatter  whatever  existed;  the  old 
--^  lilt  to  keep  the  positions  acquired,  and  to 
retake  those  it  had  lost.  Hence  arose  continual 
swayings,  which  made  themselves  felt  at  once 
in  all  the  establishments.  Here,  beyond  a 
doubt,  is  one  great  cause  of  tlie  weakness  of 
the  studies  in  Eussia.  Stability  is  an  indis- 
pensable condition  of  success  in  matters  of 
education. 

TTlijtever  maybe  our  preferences  for  tiic 
ancii  111  methods,  we  willingly  recognise  that 
satistactory  results  would  have  been  achieved 
with  the  new  system.    In  our  opinion,  it  would 


114 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  III-^ 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools, 


115 


have  somewhat  failed  in  the  case  of  the  young 
persons  leaving  these  schools ;  but  at  least,  in 
acquiring  the  knowledge  of  modem  languages, 
they  would  have  had  access  to  French  or  Ger- 
man literature.    The  study  of  mathematics  and 
of  the  experimental  sciences  would  have  given 
to   their  understandings   habits   of  clearness, 
order,  method,  which  are  not  to  be  despised. 
But  things  do  not  happen  thus.     Under  the 
name  scholastic  all  Catholic  traditions  still  sub- 
sisting  are   rejected;    the  place   accorded  to 
Latin  is  more  and  more   restricted,  without 
succeeding  in  giving  to  the  pupils  a  sufficient 
knowledge  of  modern  tongues ;  they  are  made 
to  study  natural  history  and  medicine,  to  which 
will  by  and  by  be  added  rural  economy.     The 
branches  of  instruction  are  being  multiplied^ 
and  that  fatal  path  entered  on  of  encyclopsedic 
studies,  which  overload  the  memory  of  chil- 
dren with  a  mass  of  superficial  information, 
without  forming  their  judgment  or  developing 
their  intellect.     And  this  organised  chaos  is 
still  subject  to  continual  changes.     Between 
the  studies  of  childhood  and  those  which  ter- 
minate education,  there  is  a  necessary  bond. 
What  profit  can  be  gained  from  courses  of 
study  by  a  f^ominarist,  who  has  not,  in  inferior 
classes,  obtained  the  knowledge  which  these 
courses  pi^     ;  pose  ?  Ho^  will  you  obtain  good 


professors,  if  you  demand  of  them  to  teach  what 
they  have  not  previously  learnt?  And  yet 
these  are  the  results  arrived  at  by  this  uni- 
formity, to  which  is  attached  so  much  value. 

Speaking  of  the  monks,  we  obserstl  how 
necessary  it  is  to  allow  teaching  congregations 
to  organise  and  develop  ^themsuhcb  ireely. 
The  history  of  the  Eussian  seminaries  plainly 
shows  that  there  is  a  blank,  and  that  it  could 
not  too  soon  be  filled  up.  Suppose  thera  are 
several  congregations  to-day,  one  of  which 
keeps  the  traditions  of  Peter  Moghila,  another 
those  of  Simeon  of  Polotsk,  a  third  those  of 
Theophane  Prokopovich,  whilst  others  incline 
to  the  new  system ;  each  has  its  own  methods, 
its  own  nursery  for  its  professors.  This  variety 
maintains  emulation,  but  the  esprit  de  corps 
secures  stability.  Allow  the  bishops  to  in- 
trust their  seminaries  to  a  congregation  of  their 
own  choice,  and  it  will  furnish  those  professors 
whom  you  do  not  succeed  in  producing. 

All  the  books,  all  the  journals  that  treat  of 
the  ecclesiastical  schools  in  Eussia,  testify  to 
the  hatred  more  or  less  manifest  against  the 
monks:  people  are  indignant  at  seeing  them 
at  the  head  of  the  seminaries,  and  would  dis- 
place them.  In  our  opinion,  people  are  above 
all  aiiuinst  the  monks  because  thev  show  them- 
selves   little   favourable  to   innoyatieii ;    but, 


^ 


116 


Ecclesiastical  Schools, 


Chap.  III. 


Chap.  III- 


Ecclesiastical  Schools* 


117 


whilst  admitting  that  the  grievances  articled 
against  them  may  be  well  founded,  these  griev- 
ances would  disappear  before  the  reforms  we 
have  suggested.  Better  still:  the  great,  the 
true  reason  which  necessitates  the  maintenance 
of  the  monks  in  the  seminaries  is,  that  they 
alone  represent  the  celibate  clergy,  and  that 
it  would  be  very  strange  indeed  to  see  the 
functions  of  rector  or  prefect  discharged  by  a 
father  of  a  family,  occupying,  with  his  wife 
and  daughters,  an  apartment  among  young 
men,  and  looking  for  sons-in-law  among  the 
seminarists.  Let  there  be  formed  a  secular 
celibate  clergy,  and  nothing  will  prevent  semi- 
naries being  directed  by  secular  priests. 

Xo !  the  root  of  the  evil  is  not  there,  where 
they  persist  in  pointing  to ;  it  is  in  this  cen- 
tral direction,  in  this  kind  of  ministry  for  the 
education  of  the  clergy  placed  in  double  de- 
pendence on  the   Sjmod   and  the  State,  but 
where  the  influence  of  the  State  is  predominant. 
And,  strange  to  say,  whilst  the  direction  of 
the  ecclesiastical  schools  passes  more  and  more 
into  the  hands  of  the  laity;  whilst  the  instruc- 
tion given  in  the  seminaries  tends  more  and 
more  to  become  secular, — clerical  influence  is 
made  to  appear  on  the  side  least  advantageous 
to  it.    We  have  seen  that  formerly  young  men 
of  all  classes  assembled  on  the  benches  of  the 


Academy  of  Moscow ;  to-day  the  ecclesiastical 
schools  are  exclusively  reserved  to  the  children 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  In  the  first  chapter  of 
this  work  we  said  what  we  thought  of  a  like 
state  of  things,  and  the  reforms  which  in  our 
opinion  it  demanded.  Between  the  mainten- 
ance of  caste  and  the  organisation  of  the  eccle- 
siastical schools  there  is  a  connection  that  must 
be  broken.  Now,  of  all  the  means  that  can  be 
employed  to  this  end,  one  of  the  most  efficacious 
in  our  eyes  would  be  the  formation  of  teaching 
congregations,  whose  schools  should  be  open 
to  all  classes  of  society. 

These  reflections  will  acquire  new  force, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  most  salient  facts 
in  the  history  of  the  ecclesiastical  schools. 

A  commission  established  by  Catherine  II. 
(September  7th,  1781)  to  endow  Eussia  with 
new  schools,  took  as  a  model  the  institutions 
which  Joseph  II.  had  just  then  created  in  Aus- 
tria, and  borrowed  from  them  the  organisation 
of  the  normal  schools.  Its  work  having  been 
approved  by  Catherine  (August  5th,  1786),  the 
Synod  hastened  to  adapt  the  same  plan  to  the 
schools  of  the  clergy.  We  then  find  that  ma- 
thematics, experimental  physics,  mechanics, 
and  natural  history  entered  into  the  buiicuiu  of 
ecclesiastical  study.  The  seminary  of  Nevsky 
took  the  name  of  General  Seminary  ;  each  dio- 


118 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Cliap.  III. 


cese  was  to  send  thitlier  two  of  its  best  pupils. 
Here  the  influence  of  Joseph  II.  is  perceptible. 

Under  Paul  I.  a  reaction  is  seen.  He  de- 
cides (December  18th,  1797)  that  there  shall 
henceforth  be  four  ecclesiastical  academies  or 
faculties  of  theology ;  that  besides  the  instruc- 
tion common  to  all  the  seminaries,  complete 
courses  of  philosophy  and  theology  in  Latin,  as 
well  as  of  eloquence  and  physics,  shall  be  or- 
ganised there,  and  that  Greek,  Hebrew,  Ger- 
man, and  French  shall  be  taught.  Two  years 
are  devoted  to  philosophy,  three  to  theology. 
During  these  three  years  the  students  must  also 
occupy  themselves  with  ecclesiastical  history, 
with  holy  Scripture,  moral  and  polemical  theo- 
logy, the  canon  law,  and  the  obligations  of 
cures.  It  is  difficult  not  to  recognise  in  these 
dispositions  the  influence  of  Father  Gruber, 
general  of  the  Jesuits.* 

This  plan,  which  seems  borrowed  from  the 
Catholic  seminaries,  was  modified  no  later  than 
the  following  year.   In  1804  another  was  made, 

*  At  this  time  Father  Gruber  was  in  great  favour  with  the 
Emperor  Paul.  M.  Tchistovich,  in  his  History  of  the  Ecclesiastical 
Academy  of  St.  Petersburg  (Hciopia  C.  neTcpOypcKOfi  ^yxoBHoii  Ana- 
4eMiH.  CnO.  1857,  8vo),  mentions  a  canonical  dissertation  on  the 
authority  of  the  Pope,  composed  in  1800  by  the  Archimandrite 
Eugeny,  prefect  of  the  academy,  on  the  occasion  of  a  project  of 
reunion  of  the  Churches  presented  by  Father  Gruber.  The  disser- 
tation was  remitted  by  the  Metropolitan  Ambrose  to  the  Imperial 
Cabinet.    The  archimandrite,  according  to  Tchistovich,  did  this 


le 


^^V 

" 


Omp.  III.  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  119^ 

giving  more  time  to  the  mathematical  and 
physical  sciences,  and  creating  a  course  of  na- 
tural history.     The  first  four  years  are  spent 
in  classes  for  grammar,  the  fifth  embraces  logic, 
rhetoric,  universal  history  and  geography,  na- 
tural history,  the  Greek,  French,  and  German 
languages  (begun  in  the  first  years),  medicine, 
and   ecclesiastical  computation.     During  the 
sixth  year  the  studies  are  the  history  of  philo- 
sophy, geometry,  trigonometry,  theoretical  and 
practical  physics,  eloquence,  the  same  langua- 
ges as  the  year  before,  and  medicine.    Finally, 
the  seventh  and  last  course  comprises  ecclesias- 
tical history,  dogmatic  theology,  ecclesiastical  ar- 
■chceology,  hermeneutics  and  exegesis,  sacred  elo- 
quence, moral  theology,  geometry  and  trigonome- 
try, physics,  Greek,  French,  and  German.    The 
class-time  is  eight  hours  per  day.    We  would 
gladly  believe  that  this  course  lasted  more  than 
a  year ;  but,  in  truth,  one  asks  oneself  if  the 
authors  of  this  programme  had  themselves  ever 

studied.  . 

Instruction  in  medicine  began  m  IbUJ ;  it 


ty  the  order  of  Paul  himself.  This  is  a  fact  as  curious  as  it  is 
important.  We  ought  to  declare  that  we  had  no  knowledge  of  it 
It  is  to  be  desired  that  the  project  presented  by  Father  Gruber 
and  the  answer  of  the  Archimandrite  Eugeny,  should  be  sought 
for  in  the  archives,  and  published.  Eugeny  died  Metropolitan 
of  Kieff.  The  late  M.  Moroschkin  asserted  to  me  that  Eugeny  i 
answer  had  been  found  at  Kieff. 


120 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  III. 


Cliai).  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools, 


121 


was  laid  p-side  in  1808,  to  be  resumed  later, 
and  again  abandoned  (February  1866). 

On  November  29th,  1807,  the  Emperor 
Alexander  I.  resolved  once  more  to  reform  the 
ecclesiastical  schools,  and  charged  with  this 
task  a  committee,  the  soul  of  which  was  Mi- 
chael Speranski.  We  cannot  refrain  from  say- 
ing a  few  words  of  this  personage. 

Born  in  1772  in  the  diocese  of  Yladimir, 
Michael  Gramatin  was  the  son  of  a  poor  coun- 
try priest.  He  was  first  admitted  to  the  se- 
minary of  Vladimir,  and  there  the  ambitious 
youth  took  the  name  Speranski,  thus  indicating 
by  a  word  borrowed  from  the  Latin  the  high 
hopes  he  nourished  in  his  heart.  From  Vladi- 
mir he  passed  to  the  seminary  of  Nevski,  where 
he  completed  his  studies  in  theology,  and  be« 
came  afterwards  professor  of  sacred  eloquence, 
of  mathematics,  and  soon  also  of  physics ;  to 
these  three  chairs  he  later  joined  the  duties  of 
prefect  of  studies.  They  pretend  that  he  was 
equal  to  everything.  To  speak  the  truth,  he 
united  in  himself  two  qualities  which  rarely 
meet  together — great  facility  and  great  appli- 
cation to  work;  but  on  seeing  him  discharging 
three  or  four  functions,  each  of  which  would 
suffice  to  absorb  the  entire  attention  of  one 
man,  one  can  scarcely  help  being  reminded  of 
that  tailor  who  was  cited  before  Sancho  Panza's 


tribunal  in  the  Isle   of  Barataria,   and  who, 
with  a  piece  of  cloth  hardly  enough  to  make 
one  coat,  had,  at  the  request  of  his  employer, 
made  five  thereof,  but  so  small  that  each  could 
clothe  only  a  doll.   However,  all  these  occupa- 
tions failing  to  'fill  up'  Speranski' s  day,  he  ob- 
tained the  place  of  private  secretary  to  Prince 
Kourakin.     For  some  time  he  lived  with  this 
statesman,  taking  his  meals  with  the  servants, 
and  going  to  the  monastery  of  Nevski  to  dis- 
charge his  duties.  Shortly  afterwards  Kourakin 
obtained  from  the  metropolitan  the  dismission 
of  Speranski,  for  whom  he  procured  a  place  in 
his  own  office.     This  occurred  December  24th, 
1796.     On  the  19th  of  March  1801  Speranski 
was  Secretary  of  State.     He  was  not  slow  in 
acquiring  the  entire  confidence  of  the^Emperor 
Alexander,  and  in  becoming  the  most  influential 
person  in  the  empire.     He  had  already  intro- 
duced very  great  modifications  into  the  admi- 
nistration of  state,  and  was  preparing  a  com- 
plete  reorganisation,  when,    on  March  17th, 
1812,  he  was  arrested,  and  relegated  first  to 
Nijni,  then  to  Perm.     Some  years  after,  Alex- 
ander called  him  to  employment  of  considerable 
importance ;  but  the  first  confidence  returned 
no  more.   Nicholas  charged  him  to  make  a  col- 
lection of  all  ukases  and  a  systematic  abstract 
of  them,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  code. 


122 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  IIL 


He  died  in  1839,  a  chevalier  of  St.  Andrew, 
decorated  with  the  title  of  Count,  and  possessed 
of  a  fair  fortune. 

This  extraordinary  man  has  more  than  one 
title  to  our  notice.  The  son  of  a  priest,  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  of  the  clergy,  professor  and 
prefect  of  studies  in  one  of  the  first  seminaries 
of  Eussia,  he  exercised  a  notable  influence  on 
the  reorganisation  of  ecclesiastical  instruction 

in  1809. 

In  this,  as  in  everything  he  touched,  we 
recognise  the  presence  of  a  mind  more  ca- 
pacious than  deep ;  the  love  of  regulation,  of 
bureaucracy,  of  centralisation ;  schemes  of  per- 
fect symmetry  which  have  no  regard  to  the 
ground  on  which  it  is  proposed  to  build,  and 
where  the  substance  of  things  is  continually 
sacrificed  to  their  form.  These  are  only  fa9ades, 
behind  which  there  is  nothing ;  or  rather,  the 
only  serious  thing  about  it  is,  that  they  subject 
all  the  schools  of  the  clergy  to  an  administra- 
tion dominated  by  the  influence  of  the  laity. 
There  were  to  be  academies,  seminaries,  dis- 
trict schools,  parish  schools;  and  everything 
should  terminate  in  the  central  direction  which 
gave  the  impulse  to  everything,  and  reduced 
the  members  of  this  magnificent  hierarchy  to 
simple  wheehvork  destined  to  transmit  motions 
they  did  not  themselves  possess. 


Ohap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


123 


Here,  in  few  words,  is  the  organisation 
given  to  the  academies.  The  pupils  drawn 
from  the  seminaries  ought  to  have  finished  their 
philosophy,  to  know  Latin,  and  one  of  the  three 
languages,  Greek,  German,  or  French,  and  to  be 
not  more  than  twenty-two  years  old:  the  length 
of  the  course  was  six  years.  The  different  sub- 
jects for  instruction  and  authors  adopted  were 
the  following : 

I.  Dogmatic  Theology.  Author :  Theophane  Proko- 
povitch,  abridged  by  Irenaius  Fialkovski  (Latin).  Aux- 
iUary  authors  :  1.  Fr.  Budda3i  Institutiones  Theologiae 
Dogmatical ;  2.  Holtazii  Examen  Theologicum  Acroama- 
ticum ;  3.  Turretini  Institutio  Theologian  Elencliicae ;  4. 
•Sardagna,  Opera  Theologica. 

II.  Moral  Theology.  Authors  :  1.  Mgr.  Theophylact, 
Instruction  Orthodox,  pt.  ii.  (in  Euss) ;  2.  Schuberti  et 
Eudd^ei  Institutiones  Theologian  Moralis. 

III.  Polemic  Theology.     Authors:   Buddanus,  Ernest 

Schubert,  Lang. 

lY.  Hermeneutics.  Authors  :  Mgr.  Ambrose  (Euss), 
Buddseus.  Auxiliary  Authors :  the  Fathers  of  the  Church, 
Osiander,  Tirinus,  Veith,  Dom  Calmet. 

Note.  The  Professor  of  Theology  knows  it :  the  King- 
dom of  God  is  not  in  word,  but  in  power ;  the  letter  kiUeth, 
the  spirit  alone  giveth  Ufe.  Hence,  in  reading  the  Holy 
Scripture,  we  cannot  always  be  satisfied  with  the  literal 
or  elementary  sense. 

(With  a  like  note  the  professor  is  singularly 
at  his  ease:  the  literal  sense  will  not  em- 
barrass him ;  the  door  is  open  to  Strauss  and 
his  fellows.) 


124 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  III. 


Y.  Homiletics.     Authors  :  Buddceus,  Tellus. 

YI.  Canon  Law.  The  Kornitchaia  (in  Euss),  l.e,  the 
Pedalion  ;  1.  Beveridge's  Pandects ;  2.  Bingham's  Anti- 
quitates ;  3.  The  ^N'otitia  Ecclesiastica  of  Cabasutius ;  4. 
Cavei  Historia-;  5.  Historia  Alexandri  Natalis ;  6.  Archa^- 
ologia  Posseri  Graeca ;  7.  Buddoei  Ecclesia  Eomana  cum 
Euthenica  irreconciliabilis  ;  8.  Finally,  the  *  Spiritual  Ee- 
gulation'  of  Peter  I.,  with  all  the  ecclesiastico-political 
legislation  that  followed. 

YII.  Philosophy.  Complete  course  of  Metaphysics^ 
the  History  of  Philosophy  in  its  whole  extent,  Physics 
theoretical  and  practical. 

YIII.  ^Esthetics  and  Eloquence.  Precepts  :  Blair, 
Eollin,  Levisac,  Bouterweck,  Cicero,  Horace,  Longinus, 
Quinctilian,  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  Laharpe,  Gerard  ; 
selections  from  D'Alembert,  Montesquieu,  Marmontel, 
Eenelon,  Cardinal  Maury,  Chateaubriand,  Burke,  Batteux, 
Meiners,  Eschenburg.  Models  :  Demosthenes,  Cicero, 
Titus  Livy,  Tacitus,  Sallust,  Quintus  Curtius,  Pliny  the 
younger ;  St.  J.  Chrysostom,  St.  Augustine,  the  Holy  Bible; 
Pascal,  Bossuet,  Eenelon,  Elechier,  Bourdaloue,  Massillon, 
Saurin. 

IX.  Physics  and  Mathematics.  1.  Elements  of  Geo- 
metry as  far  as  conic  sections  inclusive ;  Arithmetic,  Al- 
gebra ;  2.  Curvilinear  Geometry,  Differential  and  Integral 
Calculus ;  3.  Physics,  Mathematics. 

X.  Historical  Sciences.  Auxiliary  Sciences  :  1.  Chro- 
nology, Ancient  Geography,  Geography  of  Eussia  (two 
years) ;  2.  Biblical  and  Ecclesiastical  History,  Christian 
Antiquities,  Eussian  History  ;  3.  Universal  History. 

XL  Languages.  1.  Greek,  not  on  the  same  level  as 
Latin  (1st  year,  Xenophon,  Thucydides,  Herodotus,  Plut- 
arch ;  2d,  Demosthenes,  ^Eschines,  Lysias,  Isocrates,  St. 
Basil,  St.  Gregory  JS'azianzen,  St.  John  Chrysostom;  3d, 
Plato,  Aristotle ;  4th,  Homer,  Hesiod,  Aristophanes ;  5th, 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


125 


Sophocles,  ^schylus,  Euripides ;   6th,  Theocritus,  Bion, 
Anacreon,  Pindar) ;  2.  Hebrew ;  3.  German  and  French. 

The  choice  of  authors  is  noteworthy.     For 
theology,  it  is  specially  Budda3us,  a  Protestant 
theologian.     What  would  have  been  said  by 
Stephen  Javorski  and  Theophylact  Lopatinski, 
those  two  athletes  who  fought  against  him  with 
so  much  vigour  ?    How  will  any  one  set  about 
the  task  of  convincing  us  that  their  faith  was 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Synod  of  1809  ?    THs 
first  course  counted  seventy-eight  pupils :  eight 
became  bishops,  and  one  of  these,  Mgr.  Gregory 
Posnikoff,  died  some  years  ago  metropolitan  of 
St.  Petersburg;    another,  Koutnevich,  was  a 
member  of  the   Synod ;    then   a  considerable 
number  of  priests,  who  have  been  more  or  less 
influential  by  their  teaching  in  the  chairs  *of 
the  academies  and  seminaries,  or  by  the  works 
they  have  published.     We  content  ourselves 
with  naming  Pavski.     Ought  we  to  be  aston- 
ished at  finding  Protestant  ideas  in  the  Eussian 

clergy  ? 

When  it  became  a  question  oi  converting 

to  orthodoxy  the  Prussian  princess  destined  to 
marry  him  who  was  one  day  to  be  the  Emperor 
Nicholas,  the  priest  charged  to  instruct  the 
neophyte  received  from  the  Synod  instructions, 
in  which,  among  other  things,  we  read  as  fol- 
lows :    '  In  the  exposition   of  the   dogmatical 


I 


126 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  IIL 


teaching  of  the  Greeo-Eussian  Churehj  it  must 
be  explained  with  the  greatest  care  that  thi& 
Church  recognises  the  word  of  God  contained 
in  holy  Scriptures  as  the  only  wl^  perfectly  suffi- 
cient rule  of  faith  and  of  Christian  life,  and  a& 
the  sole  measure  of  truth ;  that  it  doubtless  re- 
verences the  tradition  of  the  primitive  Church, 
but  only  so  far  as  it  is  found  accordant  with 
holy  Scripture ;  and  finally,  that  from  this  pure 
tradition  it  draws  not  new  dogmas  of  faith,  but 
edifying  opinions j  as  also  directions^  for  ecclesi- 
astical discipline.'* 

Thus  spoke  the  Synod  in  181G.  We  hope 
that  M.  Yanycheff,  charged  with  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  Princess  Dagmar,  received  other 
instructions.  In  any  case,  we  can  thus  see 
what  progress  Protestantism  had  made  in  the 
Synod  at  the  beginning  of  this  century.  The 
priest  armed  with  these  instructions  ought  to 
deliver  them  thus :  '  Princess,  we  keep,  it  is. 
true,  a  crowd  of  ceremonies  and  observances 
which  shock  you;  we  are  obliged  to  conform 
thereto,  from  fear  of  irritating  an  ignorant  and 
bigoted  people ;  but  at  heart  we  do  not  hold 
them,  and  we  are  as  good  Protestants  as  the 
King  of  Prussia.  Be  pleased,  then,  to  con- 
descend to  conform  to  the  usages  of  a  people 
over  whom  you  may  be  called  to  reign,  and 

♦  See  Nic.  Tourgueneff,  La  Bussle  et  Ics  livsses,  vol.  iii.  p.  304. 


Chap.  III.  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  127 

in  your  inmost  conscience  remain  what  you 

are.' 

The   new  regulation  distributed  the  day 

among  four  classes  of  two  hours  each.  The 
members  of  the  commission  had  not,  indeed, 
then  gone  beyond  the  grammatical  courses,  in- 
asmuch as  they  imagined  that  in  theology  it 
is  possible  to  have  eight  hours  of  classes  every 
day. 


• 

STUDIES. 

• 

• 

1 

C3 

1 

G 

I 

OS 

E 

a 

■s 

t/2 

MORNING. 

Eloquence  .  .  . 
History  .... 
Mathematics .  .  . 
Philosophy  .  .  . 
Theology  .... 

9-10 

•  • 

•  • 

ii-i2 

•  • 

11-12 
9-10 

•  • 

9-io 

•     • 

ii-i2 

•        • 

11-12 
9-10 

•     • 

9-10 

ii-i2 

11-12 

9-io 

•   • 

AFTERNOON. 

Eloquence  .  .  . 
History      .... 

5-6 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

5-6 

•     • 

5-6 

5-6 

Mathematics .    .    . 

•     • 

•     • 

•     • 

Theology  .... 

Greek 

Hebrew  .... 
French  and  German 

•  • 

3-4 

•  • 

•  • 

5-6 

.  . 
3-4 

•     • 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

3-4 

•  • 

•  • 

3-4 

•  • 

•  • 

3-4 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

5-6 

•  • 

3-4 

"WTien  this  meclianisin  was  put  in  motion, 
it  was  of  course  seen  to  be  unable  to  work.  It 
was  then  declared  that  theology,  philosophy, 
sacred  eloquence  (less  the  theory  or  aesthetics), 
ecclesiastical  history,  and  Greek,  were  obliga- 
tory on  every  one;  that,  for  the  other  branches 
of  instruction,  students  should  choose  between 


128 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  III. 


mathematics  and  history,  between  Hebrew  and 
a  living  language  ;  and  the  whole  duration  of 
the  classes  was  reduced  to  six  hours. 

It  was  quite  natural  that  embarrassment 
should  be  experienced  in  Jfinding  professors, 
and  that  the  authorities  should  not  be  very 
particular  notwithstanding.  How  can  we  fail 
to  be  surprised  at  seeing  certain  selections? 
Let  us  give  an  example. 

At  this  time  there  was  abroad  an  ungowned 
Capuchin,  who  had  embraced  Protestantism  and 
married ;  but  who  had  been  divorced  from  his 
first  wife  and  had  married  another.  His  man- 
ners were  dissolute ;  he  believed  in  nothing,  and 
had  obtained  for  himself  a  certain  reputation  in 
Freemasonry.  If  he  were  not  connected  with 
the  llluminati  of  Bavaria,  he  yet  much  resem- 
bled them ;  his  name  was  Fessler.  This  was 
the  man  to  whom  they  chose  to  offer  a  chair  in 
the  reorganised  ecclesiastical  academy.  They 
began  by  intrusting  him  with  the  teaching  of 
Hebrew ;  finding  soon  that  this  did  not  suffice, 
they  gave  him  the  chair  of  philosophy. 

Everybody  in  Paris  still  remembers  the 
feeling  produced  there  by  the  nomination  to  the 
Hebrew  chair  of  a  man  who  had  publicly  testi- 
fied his  nonbelief  in  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Yet,  M.  Eenan's  antecedents  are  not  those  of 
Fessler,  nor  is  the  College  of  France  a  semi- 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


129 


nary.     How  is  it  then,  that,  in  a  country  pre- 
tending such  jealousy  for  its  orthodoxy,  the 
instruction  of  the  future  pastors  of  the  Kussian 
Church  was  confided  to  such  a  man  as  the  lat- 
ter ?     It  is  not  my  task  to  explain  it :  I  know 
only  that  Speranski  got  Fessler  to  initiate  him 
into  the  mysteries  of  Freemasonry,  and  declared 
himself  his  protector.    He  was  given  an  apart- 
ment in  tho  neighbourhood  of  the  Laure,  and, 
in  the  very  interior  of  the  academy,  a  chamber 
where  he  passed  a  great  part  of  the  day  in  fami- 
liar conversation  with  the  seminarists.     It  is 
sad  to  say  so,  but  these  young  men  were  en- 
raptured with  this  singular  professor.     Let  us 
hasten  to  add  that  such  a  scandal  excited  the 
zeal  of  the  Bishop  of  Kalouga,  Theophylact  Kou- 
sanoff ;  and  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  Speranski, 
at  the  end  of  five  months  Fessler  was  obliged 
to  resign.     Speranski  was  eager  to  procure  for 
him  another  place  in  the  Law  Commission.* 
In  the  memoirs  left  by  Fessler  he  relates  that 
the  persecutions  of  which  he  was  the  object 

*  Some  years  later  the  Emperor  Alexander  wished  that  the 
Protestants  of  his  states  had  bishops,  like  the  Anglican  and  Swedish 
Churches.  Being  nominated  Protestant  Bishop  of  Saratoff,  Fessler 
got  himself  consecrated  in  Finland  ;  afterwards  exercised  juris- 
diction  over  the  Protestants  at  Saratoff,  Astrakan,  Voronej,  Tarn- 
boff,  Rezan,  Penza,  Simbirsk,  Kasan,  and  Orenburg.  In  one  of 
his  pastoral  visits  he  lost  his  second  wife,  whom  he  hastened  to 
replace  by  another.  He  made  pretensions  to  apostolical  succes- 
bion,  and  used  to  ordain  priests. 


?i 


130 


Ecclesiastical  Schools, 


Chap.  III. 


had  for  tteir  motive  the  preference  given  by 
liim  to  the  Platonic  over  the  peripatetic  phi- 
losophy. But,  without  entering  into  the  ex- 
amination of  his  teaching,  it  is  evident  that 
the  choice  of  such  a  man  for  professor  in 
a  seminary  was  suflScient  to  alarm  the  con- 
science of  any  bishop  having  any  anxiety  about 

doctrine. 

This  alone,  better  than  long  reasonings,  en- 
lightens us  as  to  the  disposition  of  Speranski, 
and  as  to  the  spirit  in  which  he  had  conceived 
his  reforms.     We  know  well  that,  after  his 
disgrace,  he  affected  the  semblance  of  piety. 
He  translated  the  Imitation,  willingly  read  the 
holy  Fathers,  assisted  in  the  offices,  partook 
of  the  sacraments,  and  in  his  conversation  and 
correspondence  frequently  spoke  of  God,  Pro- 
vidence, and  of  the  life  hereafter.    But  it  would 
be  difficult  to  say  what  religion  he  had  in  his 
inmost  heart.     Was  he  orthodox,  Protestant, 
or  Deist  ?     We  know  only  that  his  was  a  soul 
without   loftiness,  knowing  no   other   motive 
than  ambition.     Speranski  lavished  the  lowest 
flatteries  on  such  a  man  as  Araktcheieff.    Sper- 
anski, who  passed  as  the  first  jurisconsult  of 
the  empire,  put  his  signature  to  the  end  of  the 
sentence  which    condemned   the   conspirators 
of  the  14th  December  1825,  although  in  this 
process  the  forms  of  justice  had  been  outrage- 


Cbap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


131 


ously  violated.  'He  is  a  gi^eat  hypocrite,'  said 
of  him  Count  Cancrin,  finance- minister  of  the 
Emperor  Nicholas.  Baron  Korff  has  inserted 
this  expression  in  his  Life  of  Speranski,  and  it 
will  doubtless  be  the  judgment  of  posterity. 

In  stopping  to  notice  the  physiognomy  of 
Speranski,  we  do  not  swerve  from  our  subject. 

It  is  worth  remarking,  that  holy  Russia  is 
exposed  to  have  ministers  of  this  temper,  and 
they  can  exercise  an  incontestable  influence 
over  the  Church  and  her  doctrine,  by  the  choice 
of  subjects,  by  the  direction  given  to  studies. 
It  is  a  farther  argument  against  the  central 
direction  of  the  schools  of  the  clergy.*  Fessler 
is  not  the  only  Protestant  who  has  taught  in 


*  There  is  a  singular  parallelism  between  the  destinies  of  Sper- 
unski  and  Fessler.  In  1810  they  are  both  at  the  apogee  of  their 
fortune  ;  in  1811  Speranski  was  precipitated  from  his  pinnacle  of 
greatness,  and  banished  to  Nijni,  then  to  Perm.  Some  months 
before,  Fessler  had  quitted  Petersburg  and  withdrawn  to  the  banks 
of  the  Volga,  into  an  estate  of  Zlobin,  brother-in-law  of  Speranski ; 
sent  away  by  Zlobin  Feb.  25th,  1813,  he  took  refuge  at  Saratoff. 
On  Oct.  3d,  1815,  he  established  himself  at  S^repta ;  Jan.  1st,  1816, 
his  emoluments  were  suppressed  :  he  was  obliged  to  sell  his  books, 
and  to  have  recourse  to  his  friends  in  Germany  for  the  means  of 
living.  Soon,  however,  the  wind  changes.  On  Aug.  30th  of  the 
same  year  Speranski  is  named  Governor  of  Penza;  Aug.  20th, 
1817,  Fessler  is  restored  to  his  appointments;  March  22d,  1819, 
Speranski  becomes  Governor-general  of  Siberia ;  July  8th,  Fessler 
is  authorised  to  reenter  Petersburg ;  and  on  Oct.  25th  a  Protestant 
bishopric  is  erected  for  him  at  Saratoff.  In  thus  following  the 
vicissitudes  of  fortune  in  the  lives  of  these  two  men,  we  can  verify 
the  greater  or  less  amount  of  credit  which  the  Freemasons  en- 
joyed. 


m.  I 


132  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  cbap.  til 

the  Academy  of  Petersburg.     After  him  came 
two  of  his  co-religionists— John  von  Horn,  who 
succeeded  him  as  professor  of  philosophy  and 
Hebrew,  and  Christian  Frederic  Graefe,  who 
lone-   filled  the   chair   of  Greek.     We   quite 
understand  that  the  professors  of  the  faculty 
of  theology  of  Dorpat  should  be  Protestants ; 
this  is  quite  natural;  but  we  do  not  understand 
confiding  to  Protestants  the  care  of  forming 
the  orthodox  clergy.     What  has  been  the  re- 
sult ?     We  have  already  observed  that  Pro- 
testant ideas  and  doctrines  have  penetrated  the 
Kussian  clergy ;  at  every  step  we  find  proofs 
of  it ;  and  perhaps  the  instructions  given  by 
the  Synod  to  the  priests  charged  to  lead  the 
German  princesses  to  exchange  their  Protest- 
antism for  orthodoxy  are  nearer  the  truth  than 
is  thought.     Without  doubt  the  doctrines  pro- 
fessed by  the  Greek  and  the  Eussian  Church 
were  not  the  least  Protestant  in  the  world; 
but  it  cannot  be  disputed  that,  for  a  century 
past,  a  work  has  been  going  on  among  the 
Kussian  clergy,  separating  them  more  and  more 
from  their  old  traditions,  and  drawing  them 
every  day  neare-  and  nearer  to  the  Protestant 

ministers.  . 

Let  us  return  to  the  ecclesiastical  academy 
of  Nevsky.  The  organisation  of  the  studies 
was  so  vicious  that  it  was  obliged  to  undergo 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


133 


radical  modifications.     The  course,  reduced  to 
four  years,  was  divided  into  two  sections — two 
years  of  philosophy,  and  two  of  theology.  With 
philosophy  were  studied  Latin,  literature,  uni- 
versal history,  and  mathematics  ;   with  theo- 
logy, ecclesiastical  history,  Christian  antiqui- 
ties, chronology,  sacred  geography,  and  Eussian 
literature.     Holy  Scripture,  Greek,   Hebrew, 
French,  and  German,  were  common  to  both 
sections.      The  lessons  of  holy  Scripture  be- 
came reading  of  the  Bible,  with  commentaries ; 
the  Old  Testament  was  read  with  philosophy, 
the  New  with   theology.      Programmes  were 
at  the  same  time  drawn  up  for  the  different 
branches  of  instruction.    The  course  of  theology 
must  embrace:    1.  Introduction  to  theology; 
2.   Hermeneutics ;    3.  Dogmatic  theology;    4. 
Moral  theology ;  5.  Polemic  theology ;  6.  Pa- 
tristic; 7.  Orthodox  liturgy;  8.  Pastoral;  9. 
Homiletics;   and  10.  Canon  law.     No  serious 
man  will   imagine   that  a  young   man  could 
learn  in  two  years  everything  enumerated  in 
this  programme,  and  at  the  same  time  the  other 
matters  just  indicated.     What  is  the  result? 
The  students  are  profound  in  nothing;  they 
are  given  only  small  abridgments,  which  serve 
merely  to  overload  the  memory.     In  the  great 
Catholic  schools  the  course  of  philosophy  runs 
for  three  years,  that  of  theology  for  four  years, 


134  ^    Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap,  iii- 

which  makes  the  time  seven  years  instead  of 
four,  and  the  branches  of  instruction  are  much 

less  numerous. 

Examining  the  programme  of  1814,  one  is 
at  once  struck  with  the  puerile  desire  of  sym- 
metry, which  has  nothing  in  common  with  true 
science,  and  which  seems  to  be  a  heritage  of 
Speranski's  mind.  Here,  for  example,  is  the 
programme  of  the  course  of  dogmatic  theology : 

I.  On  God: 

1.  Knowledge  of  God. 

2.  Unity  of  God. 

3.  The  Holy  Trinity. 


II. 

III. 

IV. 

Y. 


99 


THE  Creator. 

Providence. 

Angels. 

Man  : 

1.  On  man's  nature  and  state  before  the  fall. 

9 


3. 
4. 
5. 

6. 


)> 


)> 


)> 


>> 


)> 


his  fallen  state. 
,,    Kestoration. 
the  Eequisites  to  salvation. 

Means  of  salvation. 

Church : 

a.  In  itself. 

b.  On  the  Sacraments. 

c.  „      Hierarchy. 

d.  Laws  of  the  Church. 


>>     >> 


YI.   On  the  last  state  of  man  and  the  world. 

At  first  sight,  a  theologian  is  shocked  at 
the  want  of  proportion  presented  by  this  table. 


t^nm 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


135 


In  these  six  great  divisions,  there  is  one  which 
demands  thrice  the  space  of  the  other  five. 
The  section  on  God^  even  joining  to  it  that  on 
Prwidence^  presents  important  lacunae.     It  is 
inexplicable  why  the  sections  on  the  Hierarchy 
and  the   Church  are   separated  the  one  from 
the   other.      It  is   equally  surprising   to   see 
thrown  into  one  subdivision  the  subject  of  the 
Sacraments^  which  comprehends  eight  parts; 
one  on  sacraments  in  general,  and  seven  relat- 
ing severally  to  the  sacraments  in  particular. 
Now,  among  the  sacraments,  the  treatises  on 
the  Eucharist^  on  Penitence^  and  on  Matrimony^ 
have  an  importance  of  the  first  order. 

We  search  this  table  in  vain  for  the  vast 
beautiful  treatises  De  Actibus  humanis^  de  Gra- 
tia, de  Virtutibus,  de  Peccatis.  It  will  perhaps 
be  said  that  they  are  referred  to  morality ;  but 
it  is  one  thing  to  consider  these  matters  in  a 
moral  point  of  view,  and  another  to  consider 
them  in  the  dogmatic.  And  if  this  omission 
is  admissible  in  a  diocesan  seminary,  it  can- 
not be  accepted  in  the  case  of  a  house  of  high 
studies ;  for  it  must  not  be  lost  sight  of,  that 
the  four  ecclesiastical  academies  of  Eussia,  and 
especially  that  of  Petersburg,  form  the  rank 
most  distinguished  in  theological  instruction. 
And  this  high  course  occujnes  two  years!  and 
the  author  to-day  adopted  is  Mgr.  Macaire, 


■■1 


134  ^   Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap.  in. 

which  makes  the  time  seven  years  instead  of 
four,  and  the  branches  of  instruction  are  much 

less  numerous. 

Examining  the  programme  of  1814,  one  is 
at  once  struck  with  the  puerile  desire  of  sym- 
metry, which  has  nothing  in  common  with  true 
science,  and  which  seems  to  be  a  heritage  of 
Speranski's  mind.  Here,  for  example,  is  the 
programme  of  the  course  of  dogmatic  theology : 

I.  On  God: 

1.  Knowledge  of  God. 

2.  Unity  of  God. 

3.  The  Holy  Trinity. 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


135 


II. 

III. 

IV. 

Y. 


THE  Creator. 

Providence. 

Angels. 

Man  : 

1.  On  man's  nature  and  state  before  the  fall. 

2. 

3. 

the  Eequisites  to  salvation. 

Means  of  salvation. 
Church : 

a.  In  itself. 

h.  On  the  Sacraments. 

c.  „      Hierarchy. 

d,  „      Laws  of  the  Church. 


4. 

5. 
6. 


his  fallen  state. 
,,    Eestoration. 


)> 


>> 


>> 


YI.   On  the  last  state  of  man  and  the  world. 

At  first  sight,  a  theologian  is  shocked  at 
the  want  of  proportion  presented  by  this  table. 


In  these  six  great  divisions,  there  is  one  which 
demands  thrice  the  space  of  the  other  five. 
The  section  on  God^  even  joining  to  it  that  on 
Providence,  presents  important  lacunae.     It  is 
inexplicable  why  the  sections  on  the  Hierarchy 
and  the   Church  are   separated  the  one  from 
the   other.      It  is   equally  surprising   to   see 
thrown  into  one  subdivision  the  subject  of  the 
Sacraments  J  which  comprehends  eight  parts; 
one  on  sacraments  in  general,  and  seven  relat- 
ing severally  to  the  sacraments  in  particular. 
Now,  among  the  sacraments,  the  treatises  on 
the  Eucharist,  on  Penitence,  and  on  Matrimony^ 
have  an  importance  of  the  first  order. 

We  search  this  table  in  vain  for  the  vast 
beautiful  treatises  De  Actibus  humanis,  de  Gra- 
tia, de  Virtutibus,  de  Peccatis.  It  will  perhaps 
be  said  that  they  are  referred  to  morality ;  but 
it  is  one  thing  to  consider  these  matters  in  a 
moral  point  of  view,  and  another  to  consider 
them  in  the  dogmatic.  And  if  this  omission 
is  admissible  in  a  diocesan  seminary,  it  can- 
not be  accepted  in  the  case  of  a  house  of  high 
studies ;  for  it  must  not  be  lost  sight  of,  that 
the  four  ecclesiastical  academies  of  Eussia,  and 
especially  that  of  Petersburg,  form  the  rank 
most  distinguished  in  theological  instruction. 
And  this  high  course  occujnes  two  years!  and 
the  author  to-day  adopted  is  Mgr.  Macaire, 


mimmmmmHm 


I'mll'ilC n 


136 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap   III. 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


137 


who  wrote  in  Eussian !  What  would  be  said 
in  France  of  a  seminary  where  theology  should 
take  two  years,  and  that  in  French  ?  If  there 
are  any  such,  they  do  not  boast  of  them ;  in 
any  case,  they  are  not  faculties  of  theology,  or 
anything  approaching  thereto. 

For  moral  theology,  the  Academy  has  re- 
mained faithful  to  Buddceus ;  for  polemical,  to 

Schubert, 

We  have  not  information  sufficient  for  us 
to  form  an  opinion  of  the  manner  in  which 
philosophy  is  taught  in  the  Academy  of  Peters- 
burg ;   but  the  history  of  this  academy,  from 
which  we  have  borrowed  many  facts  and  hints, 
has  been  written  by  M.  Tchistovich,  professor 
of  philosophy  in  that  institution  ;*  and  we  are 
not  a  little    surprised  to  see  his  declaration 
that,  in  the  ecclesiastical  academies,  the  teach- 
ing of  philosophy  has  for  its  object  to  demon- 
strate the  feebleness  of  human  reason,  and  its 
inability  to  discover  truth  by  its  own  forces, 
without  the  light  of  revelation.     If  this  is  not 
traditionalism,  I  know  not  now  where  to  look 
for  it.     Beyond  doubt,  rationalists  are  quite 
wrong  in  pretending  that  human  reason,  left 
to  its  sole  force,  can  attain  every  kind  of  truth; 

*  iiciopifl  C.  nerepCypcKott  AyxoBeoft  AKajCMiH,  coiHHeHie  op^HHap- 
Haro  npo*eccopa  C.  nerepCypcKOft  AyxoBHott  AKa^eMia  UiapiOHa  Hhcto- 
BHHa.     Cn6,  1857,  8vo. 


but  to  conclude  of  it  that  it  is  impotent  to 
know  truth,  is  to  sap  the  foundation  of  reason 
and  faith,  philosophy  and  theology. 

The  study  of  universal  history  was  not 
obligatory  from  1814  to  1844  ;  in  the  latter 
year  it  became  obligatory.  In  1842  the  course 
of  Eussian  history  was  extended  to  all  stu- 
dents ;  in  1851  it  was  divided.  Eussian  his- 
tory was  taught  to  the  pupils  in  philosophy, 
Eussian  church  history  to  the  pupils  in  theo- 
logy. In  1844  the  study  of  physics  and  mathe- 
matics was  rendered  equally  obligatory.  Until 
1842  eight  hours  weekly  were  devoted  to  these 
sciences;  in  1845  four  hours  and  a  half  sufficed  ; 
since  1849  they  occupy  six  hours:  At  an  epoch 
not  specified,  but  which  can  be  conjectured, 
the  professor  of  history  was  warned  to  beware 
of  two  rocks — an  excessive  criticism  and  fatal- 
To  these    two    recommendations,   very 


ism. 


reasonable  in  themselves,  was  added  a  third, 
of  which  I  am  unwilling  to  deprive  the  reader : 
'  Avoid  an  inconsiderate  political  direction, 
which  could  bring  forth  in  young  minds  a 
tendency  to  dream  and  to  judge  of  what  ought 
not  to  be  submitted  to  their  judgment.^  From 
this  one  can  imagine  what  the  course  of  his- 
tory must  be.* 

*  In  illustration  of  the  sentence  in  italics,  we  quote  the  fol- 
lowing explanation  of  the  autocratical  power  of  the  Tsar  which 


#" 


B^inS«fer|ii[ijiSS'iffS  I  imiiiiiiiSiij'irmi  I  w  'itmim  mum" 


mi^mmm 


•mmmimtaim 


138 


Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap.  iii. 


Cliap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


139 


In  the  primitive  plan  instruction  in  Latin 
had  been  wholly  laid  aside,  on  the  supposition 
that  the  young  men  on  leaving  the  seminary 
would  be  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  Ian*- 
guage.  The  event,  it  appears,  did  not  justify 
this  trial,  and  in  1847  two  classes  in  Latin 
weekly  were  established.  In  these  were  ex- 
pounded Lactantius,  Cicero,  T.  Livy,  Tacitus, 
Yirgil,  Horace ;  that  is  to  say,  what  the  stu- 
dents were  thought  to  have  seen  in  the  gram- 
mar-classes was  here  repeated.     Very  modest 

this ! 

"We  have  seen  above  the  selection  of  au- 
thors to  be  read  in  Greek.     This  programme, 
which  places  Thucydides  in  the  first  year,  is 
evidently  the  work  of  men  who  were  ignorant 
of  Greek.     They  soon  returned  to  wiser  ideas. 
The  coiu'se  was  divided  into  two  sections,  the 
first  comprising  the  beginners ;  to  the  second 
were  explained  Homer,  Lucian,  Apollodorus, 
Diodorus  Siculus,  Pausanias,  Xenophon,  &c. ; 
then  they  touch  on  iEschylus,  Sophocles,  Euri- 
pides ;  lastly,  they  pass  to  Demosthenes,  Iso- 
crates  and  the  Fathers  of  the  Church.     The 


i3  alluded  to  in  the  1st  article  of  the  Jlussian  Code:  *His  Ma- 
iesty  is  a  monarch  autocratic,  who  has  not  to  give  reason  for  his 
actions  to  anybody  on  earth,  but  has  the  power  and  authority,  as 
Christian  sovereign,  to  administer  his  state  and  country  accordmg 
to  his  own  will  and  discretion.'  (^Trans.) 


study  of  French  and  German  has  also  become 
obligatory ;  so  that  a  return  has  imperceptibly 
been  made  to  almost  the  very  programme  of 
1809,  which  was  found  too  full  in  1814. 

It  is  seen,  then,  that  there  is  one  thought 
in  the  plan  of  1797,  and  another  in  that  of 
1809:  the  first  belonged  to  the  Jesuits,  the 
second  to  the  Freemasons ;  the  rest  was  mere 
routine. 

In  1863  a  new  reform  was  tried.  Instead 
of  dwelling  on  it,  we  prefer  giving  here  our 
own  views  on  the  matter. 

We  should  like  to  see  in  all  the  seminaries 
two  years  allotted  to  philosophy,  and  three  to 
theology :  the  instruction  should  be  given  in 
Latin.  It  is  even  to  be  wished  that  the  use 
of  scholastic  disputation  be  revived.  During 
the  theological  course  the  whole  attention 
should  be  expended  on  dogma  and  morality; 
all  else  should  be  accessory.  There  should  be 
only  three  hours  of  class  daily,  and  at  most 
two  or  three  hours  weekly  for  accessories,  so 
distributed  that  one  year  should  be  devoted  to 
ecclesiastical  history,  another  to  canon  law,  a 
third  to  holy  Scripture.  The  academies,  to 
which  should  be  admitted  only  those  young 
men  who  have  finished  their  studies  in  the 
seminaries,  should  be  true  faculties  of  theo- 
logy.   There  all  the  branches  of  sacred  science 


I 
I 


y 


feict  -^  tiS  .1 


UO  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  Chap.  m. 

should  be  taught,  with  all  the  fulness  they 
admit  of;  there  should  he  formed  the  men  des- 
tined to  become  professors  in  the  seminaries. 
By  permitting  the  best  pupils  to  spend  some 
years  in  foreign  travel,  good  professors  of  fa- 
culties would  be  prepared.     These  professors 
should  evidently  not  be  taken   from   among 
Protestants ;  the  formation  of  the  clergy  can 
be  entrusted  only  to  men  whose  doctrine  gives 
every  security.     We  would,  farther,  that  that 
mixture  of  monks,  secular  priests,  and  laymen 
should  be  renounced.    If  the  reforms  proposed 
by  us  were  adopted,  one  or  two  academies  might 
be  reserved  for  the   secular  celibate  clergy ; 
the  others  should  be  confided  to  monks ;  and 
if  there  existed  two  or  three  separate  teaching 
congregations,  there  would  be  no  disadvantage 
iu  introducing  into  different  academies  differ- 
ent congregations.   As  to  the  choice  of  authors, 
it  is  high  time  to  lay  aside  Buddseus  and  the 
other  Protestant  theologians.  Similarly  it  would 
be  necessary  to  subject  to  a  careful  examina- 
tion the  books  published  by  members  of  the 
Eussian  clergy,  who  have  allowed  themselves 
to  be  drawn  towards  Protestantism.     At  tlie 
head  of  these  is  Theophane  Prokopovich.     It 
should  be  seen  what  was  thought  of  ti^  and 
his  doctrine  by  Etienne  Javorski  and  iheo- 
phylact  Lopatinski.    For  this  purpose  it  would 


Chap.  III.  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  141 

be  very  useful  to  have  reprinted  the  great 
work  of  Javorski,  published  by  Lopatinski, 
and  entitled  The  Stone  of  Faith.*  It  i==  a 
refutation  of  Protestantism,  which  ought  to  bo 
placed  in  the  hands  of  every  student  of  theo- 
logy- 
It  rarely  happens  that  we  are  of  the  same 

opinion  as  the  anonymous  author  of  the  book 
on  The  White  and  Black  Clergy ;  this  is  one 
more  reason  for  seizing  the  occasion  of  citing 
him  when  we  agree  with  him.     The  chair  of 
dogmatic  theology  ought  not  to  be  an  appendage 
to  the  rectorship;  quite  on  the  contrary:  these 
two  employments  are  incompatible.    Teaching 
demands  men  who  devote  themselves  wholly 
to  it,  and  remain  each  in  his  own  speciality. 
If  they  so  remain  long,  they  will  be  but  the 
better  for  it.     A  professor  who  has  for  any 
length  of  time  occupied  a  chair  can  rarely  ex- 
change it  for  another  without  inconvenience ; 
and  he  who  has  lived  a  few  years  without 
teaching  can  scarcely  ever  return  to  it  again. 
These  considerations  ill  agree  with  the  career 
followed  by  the   poorly  -  instructed  monks  m 
Eussia.   Whatever  employ  is  confided  to  them, 
they  consider  it  only  as  a  lower  ladder  to  raise 
them  to  a  higher.     With  this  system  good 
professors  will  never  be  obtained.     A  semi- 

*  KaMenb  Btpu. 


SPiJ**Si^t«tS 


it 


* 

142  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap.  m. 

nary  superior,  wlio  lias  shown  some  aptitude 
for  administration,  who  possesses  virtues  ne- 
cessary for  governing  men,  and  fulfils  besides 
the  other  conditions  required,  can  be  with  ad- 
vantage promoted  to  the  episcopate.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  bishop  being  not  only  a  pastor 
but  a  doctor,  we  understand  that  the  episco- 
pate receives  a  theologian  of  merit ;  "but,  as  a 
general  rule,  it  is  to  be  wished  that  good  pro- 
fessors keep  to  teaching,  and  make  it  exclu- 
sively their  ambition  to  become  eminent  m 

their  line.  .   , 

Hitherto  we  have  been  chiefly  occupied 
with  teaching ;  we  must  now  study  another 
aspect  of  the  question,-the  admimstration  oi 
houses  destined,  for  the  training  of  the  clergy, 
the  discipline  observed  there,  and  the  educa- 
tion received  by  candidates  for  the  priesthood 

We  have  seen  that  the  administration  ot 
these  establishments,  centred  at  first  in  the  hands 
of  the  commission  on  ecclesiastical  schools,  was 
afterwards  placed  among  the  functions  of  the 
Synod,  but  that  really  it  is  exercised  by  the 
central  direction,  which  depends  on  the  chief 
procurator  at  least  as  much  as  on  the  supreme 
council*  of  the  Russian  Church.  In  1863  a 
new  regulation  was  published.     Judging  of  it 

•  As  to  the  applicability  of  the  term  'council'  to  the  Synod, 
see  infra^  p.  219. 


t 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


143 


by  the  attacks  of  the  philo-slave  journal,  The 
Bay*  and  by  those  of  our  anonymous  author, 
it  would  contain  notable  and  serious  ameliora- 
tions.    For  the  first  time,  the  diocesan  bishop 
is  invested  with  the  rights  belonging  to  him 
over  his  seminary.     Under  the  supervision  of 
the  central  direction,  he  exercises  over  this 
nursery  of  his   clergy  a  veritable   authority. 
The  rector,  named  at  Petersburg  on  the  bishop's 
presentation,  is  assisted  by  a  pedagogic  council, 
composed  of  the  prefect  of  studies  or  inspector, 
of  six  professors,  and  of  three  or  four  priests, 
whom  the  city  clergy  choose  from  their  midst. 
The  powers  of  this  council  are  very  extended, 
but  at  the  same  time  the  rector's  authority 
over  the  whole  personnel  of  the  house  is  entire. 
Until  now  the  professorships  in  the  seminaries 
were,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  held  by  sons  of 
ecclesiastics,  who,  after  having  terminated  their 
studies  at  the  seminary  or  at  the  academy,  re- 
mained laymen.     To  entrust  the  education  of 
the  young  Levites  to  men  who  thus  testify 
their  aversion  from  the  vocation  to  the  eccle- 
siastical state,  was  not  the  way  to  preserve  this 
vocation  in  the  pupils.     The  ne^^   regulation 
has  understood  this,  and  the  men  of  this  cate- 
o-ory  will  be  separated  from  the  seminaries. 
These  dispositions,  so  reasonable,  are  vio- 

*  4eHb. 


I^' 


144  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap.  m. 

lently  criticised  by  the  philo- slave  journal. 
Now  what  does  it  ask  ?     Separation  from  the 
monks,  teaching  confided  to  the  laity,  all  pro- 
fessors without  distinction  called  to  sit  m  a 
pedagogic  council,  the  rector  and  the  inspector 
chosen  by  ballot  by  the  staff  of  professors.     It 
is  indignant  at  the  authority  confided  to  the 
bishop  and  the  rector,  and  in  it  sees  only  the 
triumph  of  despotism.   (The  Day,  i86b,  Nos. 
41  and  46.)    Yerily  we  cannot  believe  our 
eyes      These  fiery  athletes  of  orthodoxy  speak- 
ing a  language  which  seems  borrowed  from  the 
extremest  republicans  when  it  is  a  question  o 
an  educational  establishment,  or  of  a  seminary! 
No  study  is  more  curious  than  this  question  of 
ecclesiastical  places  of  education :    masks  fal 
off,  and  every  man  betrays  his  most  secret 
thoughts.     The  philo- slaves  speak  like  free- 
masons ;  they  have  the  same  hatreds  and  the 

same  preferences. 

We  by  no  means  wish  to  constitute  our- 
selves the  advocates  of  the  Eussian  clergy;  but 
how  comes  it  that  these  men,  who  inscribe  the 
word  orthodoxy  on  their  banner,  show  themselves 
animated  with  such  hostile  sentiments  towards 
the  cler<^y  ^  How  can  we  help  recalling  that 
these  same  men  have  placed  the  supreme  au- 
thority of  their  Church,  not  in  the  oecumenical 
council  -  that  is  to  say,  in  the  assembly  ot 


Chap.  III.  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  145 

bishops— but  in  the  universal  suffrage  of  the 
people,  sanctioning  or  rejecting  the  decrees  of 
the  councils  ?     The  question  is  the  education 
of  young  men  who  are  to  be  clothed  with  the 
priesthood,    the    instructing   them   in    sacred 
knowledge  and  revealed  truth ;  and  it  is  not 
necessary,  forsooth,  that  the  bishop  have  au- 
thority over  the  professors.     The  rector  also  is 
to  be  named  by  his  professors,  who  give  no 
guarantee  of  their  orthodoxy.   The  philo-slaves 
would  be  particularly  satisfied  if  this  rector 
were  himself  a  layman ;  they  would  see  with- 
out displeasure  authority  wholly  taken  away 
from  the  bishop  and  passed  into  the  hands  ot 
the  laity    I  know  that  certain  Protestant  sects 
look  at  the  matter  thus;  but  I  ask  myself,  how 
can  men  who  think  thus  persuade  themselves 
that  they  are  orthodox?  above  all,  how  can 
they  persuade  others  so  ?    What  shall  we  say? 
Are  these  philo-slaves  a  sect  which  the  Eus- 
sian Church  will  end  by  ejecting  from  its  bo- 
som, or  rather  is  it  necessary  to  explain  this 
phenomenon  by  the   state   of  disregard   i^o 
which  the  Eussian  clergy  have  fallen  .^     W  e 
do  not  know  ;  but  this  anti-clerical  fanaticism 
of  the  philo-slaves  most  certainly  affords  much 

to  think  about. 

The  reflections  contained  in  the  anonymous 
work  on    The    White  and  Black   Clergy  are 


** 
Jf 


K."^:-.*'  *" 


146 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


Chap.  III. 


quite  as  curious.     The  author  finds  that  the 
education  given  in  the  Russian  seminaries  was 
abeady  too  Catholic,  and  that  the  neiv  regula- 
tion  is  about  to  render  it  Jesuitical.     Let  us 
first  see  in  what  it  was  too  Catholic.     Accord- 
ing to  our  anonymous  writer,  the   seminary 
superiors  were  wrong  to  busy  themselves  about 
the  goings-out  of  their  pupils,  and  the  relations 
these  might  have  with  the  outside  world,  to 
look  with  an  evil  eye  on  those  who  frequented 
balls  and  theatres,  and  he  thinks  that  generally 
they  were  kept  at  too  great  a  distance  from 
women.    And  yet  he  speaks  of  a  professor  who, 
in  a  seminary,  gave  a  course  of  lessons  to  which 
ladies  were  admitted;    he  farther  recognises 
that  all  the  surveillance  of  superiors  does  not 
prevent  the  seminarists  going  to  theatres,  balls, 
&c.     His  great  argument  is,  that  all  the  semi- 
narists ought  some  day  to  be  married.     First 
of  all,  if  it  is  probable  that  the  majority  will 
marry,  it  cannot  be  said  of  any  that  he  ought 
to  be  married ;  and  even  admitting  that  they 
all  marry,  is  this  a  reason  for  not  preserving 
their  youth  from  the  wanderings  and  disorders 
to  which  they  are  too  exposed  ?   The  vigilance 

very  insufficient,   alas!  —  adopted   by  the 

seminary  superiors  to  protect  the  innocence  of 
their  pupils,  this  is  what  our  anonymous  au- 
thor speaks  of  as  Catholic  tendencies !     What  an 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


147 


avowal,  what  homage !     He  would  doubtless 
see  this  Catholic  spirit  replaced  by  tendencies 
wholly  o])^osite— orthodox  tendencies.  Whither 
these  would  tend  can  be  imagined.    Once  more, 
we  are  not  the  advocates  of  the  Eussian  Church ; 
but  we  do  not  believe  that  she  deserves  the  op- 
probrium of  being  defended  after  this  fashion. 
As  to  the  Jesuitical  tendencies  of  the  new 
regulation,  the  occasion  for  such  an  accusation 
is  this.     The  central  administration  communi- 
cated to  the  bishops  a  description  of  the  little 
seminary  of  Paris,  and  from  it  were  borrowed 
several  arrangements  in  use  there.    Every  one 
knows  that  the  little  seminary  of  Paris  is  not  a 
college  of  Jesuits,  that  it  is  directed  by  secular 
priests,  under  the  supervision  of  the  archbishop ; 
but  at  this  distance  one  may  not  look  at  this 
matter  with  minuteness,  and  two  pages  farther 
on  our  anonymous  author  does  not  hesitate  to 
say,  in  reference  to  the  Leotade  affair,  that 
among  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools— at 
Toulouse— a//,  even  to  the  servants  and  the  phy- 
sician, ivere  Jesuits.     But  in  what,   then,  do 
these  Jesuitical  tendencies  consist  ?     There  are, 
firstly,  the  same  grievances  we  have  already 
seen  in  the  organ  of  the  philo-slaves :  the  semi- 
naries are  placed  under  the  authority  of  the 
diocesan  bishop ;  the  rector,  on  his  side,  has 
too  great  a  power  in  the  house,  the  lay  element 


irJt' 


I   I 


148  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap.  iii. 

in  the  personnel  is  weak.     Then  come  other 
accusations  of  the  same  kind :  instead  of  day- 
schools  the  seminaries  are  going  to  become 
boarding-schools ;  the  pupils  are  separated  too 
much  from  the  world  ;  Catholic  seminaries  are 
taken  as  models,  instead  of  imitating  the  Pro- 
testant system ;  mention  is  not  often  enough 
made  of  the  necessity  of  inculcating  m  the 
youths   devotion   to  their   fatherland   and  to 
the  emperor.     In  other  terms,  the  aspirants  to 
the  priesthood  ought  to  be  accustomed  to  the 
thought  that  they  are,  above  all,  functionaries  ot 
the  state.     But  what  is  more  Jesuitical  is,  that 
the  bishop  shall  choose  from  his  clergy  an  edu- 
cated and  pious  priest  charged  to  receive  the  con- 
fessions of  the  seminarists;  this  chaplain  is  re- 
commended to  excite  in  his  penitents  a  sincere 
contrition,  to  see  them  from  time  to  time,  to 
give  them  good  counsel,  to  habituate  them  to 
watch  over  their  actions  and  thoughts,  to  seek 
their   spiritual  father  in  order  to  disclose  to 
him  the  state  of  their  souls,  to  learn  from  him 
to  fi-ht  against  their  faults,  and  to  exercise 
themselves  in  mental  prayer.     The  first  objec- 
tion our  anonymous  friend  makes  to  this  is  not 
without  originality :    a  priest  capable  of  dis- 
charging  these  functions  is  not  to  be  found ; 
those  of  the  monks  who  would  be  able  occupy 
more  important  posts;  and  to  find  one  of  them 


Cliap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


I4y 


in  the  ranks  of  the  secular  clergy  too  high  a 
salainj  would   be   necessary.     And   then  this 
would  considerably  alter  custom.     To-day  the 
seminarists  are  thought  to  confess  and  com- 
municate twice  a  year,  during  the  first  week  of 
Lent  and  during  Holy  Week.    In  reality  they 
generally  confine  themselves  to  approaching  the 
sacraments  at  the  beginning  of  Lent.     Almost 
all  go  to  pass  Easter  in  their  families ;  starting 
on  Palm  Sunday,  because,  from  the  bad  state  of 
the  roads,  they  do  not  reach  home  till  Monday 
or  Tuesday.     Scarcely  any  one  approaches  the 
sacraments,  which,  however,  does  not  hinder 
the  cures  from  giving  them  on  their  return  a 
certificate  attesting  that  they  have  both  con- 
fessed and  communicated.*     The  new  regula- 
tion prescribes  two  communions  more  per  year, 
the  one  at  Christmas,  the  other  at  the  Assump- 
tion; as  this  latter  festival  falls  during  the 
vacation,  it  may  be  feared  that  many  young 
men   do   not   refrain    from   bringing   a   false 
certificate.     It  also  ordains  that,  in  order  to 
give  the  seminarists  habits  of  piety,  prayers 
should  be  recited  morning  and  evening,  grace 
before  and  after  meat  should  be  said,  and  their 
classes  be  begun   and  finished  with  a  short 

*  In  several  Jesuit  colleges  there  are  vacations  at  Easter,  but 
the  pupils  leave  only  the  day  after  the  f estiva,].  This  is  a  Jesmtical 
invention  which  the  Russian  seminaries  would  do  well  to  adopt. 


LI 


iff 


ft! 

■  ^ 


150  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap.  m. 

prayer.    And  herein  consists  its  Jesuitical  ten- 
dencies.   The  seminarists  receive  a  too  clerical 
education,  and  the  clergy  are  too  isolated  from 
the  rest  of  the  population.    The  less  the  priests 
shall  distinguish  themselves  from  the  laity,  the 
better  it  will  be :  they  are  married  and  fathers 
of  families ;  consequently  the  principle  is  laid 
down,  it  remains   only  to   deduce   therefrom 
its  consequences.     It  is  necessary  that  the  as- 
pirants to  the  priesthood  should  be  brought  up 
by  laymen,  and  as  laymen ;  that  they  should 
have  the  same  ideas,  the  same  habits,  the  same 
kind  of  life  as  laymen.   The  greater  part  of  the 
laity  do  not  conform  to  the  laws  of  the  Church, 
and  do  not  lead  Christian  lives.    It  matters  not. 
But  what,  then,  is  the  priest,  and  why  did 
our  Lord  call  him  the  salt  of  the  earth  ?    Has 
he  not  received  the  deposit  of  revealed  truth, 
in  order  to  dissipate  ignorance  and  combat  er- 
ror ?     Ought  he  not  to  oppose  the  doctrine  of 
the  Gospel  to  the  false  wisdom  of  the  world  ? 
Has  he  not  been  established  guardian  of  the 
law  and  dispenser  of  the  sacraments  ?     Ought 
he  not  to  reprove  sinners,  to  call  them  to  peni- 
tence, to  purify  them  from  their  defilements,  to 
catch  them  up  when  fainting,  and  raise  them 
to  God?    In  a  word,  ought  he  not  to  react 
against  ignorance,  against  errors,  against  vanity, 
against  the  corruption  of  the  world  ?  It  is  not. 


^.«s<«^pt^^^!^s»^ 


iiiftiai[SiPMnMi(flmil|iM||i4 


Chap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


151 


then,  whilst  living  the  life  of  the  world,  accept- 
ing its  ideas  and  submitting  to  its  influence, 
that  the  priest  will  be  able  to  fulfil  his  mission. 
And  if  the  men  who  di-ew  up  the  new  regula- 
tion of  the  Kussian  seminaries  have  insisted  on 
the  necessity  of  sheltering  the  priest's  youth 
from  the  scandals  of  the  world,  they  have  only 
conformed  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.     Let 
people  say  that  these  are  Jesuitical  tendencies, 
we  shall  not  complain ;  they  thereby  only  esta- 
blish the  conformity  of  the  spirit  of  the  Com- 
pany of  Jesus  with  the  spirit  of  Him  who  said, 
'  If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world  would  love 
you ;  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the  world,  be- 
cause I  have  separated  you  from  the  world, 
therefore  the  world  hates  you.'  (John  xv.  19.) 
Consequently,  the  principles  of  the  new  re- 
gulation are  good,  so  far  as  we  can  judge  of 
them  from  the  criticisms  they  have  evoked. 
Will  there  be  found  in  the  Kussian  Church 
men  to  put  them  in  practice  ?     This  is  another 
question.     Have  these  principles  always  been 
applied  with  discretion?  We  will  not  affirm  it. 
It  is  certainly  a  good  thing  to  give  habits 
of  piety  to  clerical  youth ;  but  in  making  all 
the  pupils  attend  mass  Wednesdays  and  Fri- 
days, matins  and  vespers  every  Sunday  and 
holiday;  by  rendering  it  obligatory  on  them 
during  their  four  last  years  at  the  seminary  to 


^^'i^i'^  '^  z^\  '~«^ 


'3 


1 


"i 

il 
[I 


152  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap.  lU- 

attend  mass,  matins,  and  vespers  every  day- 
lias  not  the  limit  of  moderation  been  passed  ." 
We  think  so.     If  we  consider  that  the  Offices 
of  the  Eussian  Church  are  much  longer  than 
those  of  the  Latin,  we  shall  feel  a  difficulty  m 
understanding  that  study  does  not  suffer  there- 
from ;  and  farther,  'tis  doubtful  whether  they 
be  a  proper  means  for  nourishing  piety.  When 
our  anonymous  author  says  that  these  long 
hours  of  service  are  more  in  place  in  a  monas- 
tery than  in  a  house  for  study,  that  they  can 
produce  in  young  souls  distaste  for  prayer,  or 
dispose  them  to  hypocrisy,  we  perfectly  agree 
with  him.     We  shall  say  as  much  of  the  four 
annual  communions.   We  would  that  the  young 
men  could  approach  the  sacraments  far  oftener ; 
but,  as  each  of  these  commxmions  is  preceded 
by  an  eight  days'  retreat,  without  studies,  with- 
out recreation,  without  distraction  of  any  sort, 
we  expect  from  them  no  good  result.     One  re- 
treat a  year  may  do  very  much  good ;  but  one 
is  sufficient,  and  farther,  for  very  young  men, 
eight  days  are  too  long.     Moreover,  children 
must  not  be  left  to  themselves ;  they  need  to 
be  spoken  with  four  or  five  times  a  day,  and 
fresh  food  always  supplied  them  for  mind  and 

heart.  ,  ., 

In  a  word,  the  new  regulation  bears  witness 

to  good  intentions ;  but  we  doubt  much  if  it 


Cliap.  III. 


Ecclesiastical  Schools. 


153 


will  breed  happy  effects.  To  speak  our  mmd 
entirely,  we  do  not  believe  in  the  possibdity  of 
a  reform  of  the  Russian  seminaries.  The  evil 
is  too  deep,  and  the  men  are  wanting. 

In  such  a  situation  there  is  but  one  course 
to  take :  to  allow  those  who  can  do  anything 
to  do  it.     Eenounce  frankly  your  traditional 
policy  in  matters  religious ;  break  all  the  fet- 
ters with  which  you  have  loaded  alien  worship ; 
allow  CathoV'^s  and  Staroveres  (dissenters)  to 
have  their  seminaries,  their  academies,  their 
faculties  of  theology,  as  you  freely  allow  them 
to  Protestants ;  do  not  burden  these  establish- 
ments with  your  administrative  guardianship, 
leave  the  bishops  free  to  organise  their  semin- 
aries as  they  desire,  to  entrust  the  direction  of 
them  to  whom  they  will,  give  all  the  religious 
orders— not  excepting  the  Jesuits— the  faculty 
to  have  colleges;    efface  from  your  code  the 
laws  which   forbid  Russians  to  embrace  any 
other  religion  than  that  of  the  State  :  this  free 
concurrence  can  alone  save  you.     I  willingly 
admit  that  the  official  Church  will  see  the  num- 
ber of  her  childi-en  diminish ;  but  the  multi- 
tude of  those  inscribed  on  the  parish  registers 
do  not  constitute  her  strength,  as  the  40,000 
Catholics  she  conquered  in  1867  add  nothing 
to  her  vigour.     This  is  certain,  that  this  con- 
currence will  strengthen  the  Christian  element 


i''^  AAiWS 


154  Ecclesiastical  Schools.  chap.  m. 

in  the  empire ;  that  it  will  be  an  embankment 
against  the  Nihilism  now  propagating  itselt 
through  the  schools,  and  above  all  says  the 
Moscow  Gazette,  through  the  schools  of  the 
cler-y.  All  the  regulations  in  the  world  can 
avail  nothing,  the  remedy  must  be  sought  else- 
where;  and  you  will  find  it  only  ma  renun- 
ciation of  all  your  traditions  opposed  to  alien 
worship. 


CHAPTEE  lY. 


THE  BISHOPS. 


The  Church  founded  by  Jesus  Christ  is  apos- 
tolic ;  it  was  to  the  Apostles  that  our  Lord  con- 
fided'the  deposit  of  the  faith,  the  mission  to  teach 
all  nations,  the  power  to  administer  the  sacra- 
ments, the  task  to  lead  the  faitliful  into  the  way 
of  salvation.    The  Apostles  were  mortal;  their 
ministry  is  to  be  exercised  until  the  consum- 
mation of  the  ages.    They  must  therefore  have 
successors:  these  are  the  bishops.   The  bishops 
are  doctors;  that  is  to  say,  guardians,  inter- 
preters, and  judges  of  doctrine.    They  have  the 
fulness  of  the  priesthood ;   not  only  do  they 
administer  the  sacraments,  but  they  confer  the 
power  to  administer  them.     They  are  pastors ; 
to  them  belongs  the  care  of  leading  and  feeding 
the  flock  of  Jesus  Christ.    What  the  bishops 
have  received  from  the  Apostles  they  transmit 
to  their  successors ;  and  thus  is  formed  in  the 
Church  a  chain,  of  which  not  a  link  is  broken 
—an  uninterrupted  tradition  by  which,  from 
generation  to  generation,  pass  the  teaching,  the 
episcopal  characterj  and  authority. 


156 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  bishop's   power  is  supernatural;    it 
comes  not  from  men,  nor  can  it.     Neither  the 
votes  of  the  people  assembled  in  their  comitia, 
nor  a  sovereign's  decree,  whatever  his  power, 
can  make  a  bishop.     To  the  ancients,  when 
being  entrusted  with  the  government  of  the 
churches  founded  by  him,  St.  Paul  said :  '  The 
Holy  Ghost  has  made  you  bishops,  to  rule  the 
Church  of  God.'    'Tis  necessary,  however,  that 
men  intervene  in  this  great  work  of  the  trans- 
mission  of  the    episcopal   power.      The   first 
bishops  were  directly  named  and  consecrated 
by  the  Apostles :  about  this  there  could  be  no 
difficulty.     We  shall  presently  see  how  the 
mode  of  election  has  been  regulated  by  the 
canon  law  at  different  epochs  in  history ;  but 
before  quitting  the  Apostles  we  must  make  an 
important  observation. 

When  they  began  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
not  being  able,  of  course,  to  address  themselves 
to  all  men  at  once,  they  betook  themselves  to 
the  great  centres  of  population — to  Antioch, 
Ephesus,  Corinth,  Thessalonica.     When  they 
had  grouped  around  them  a  certain  number  of 
believers,  and  had  sufficiently  instructed  them, 
before  leaving  them  they  placed  at  the  head  of 
this  nascent  Church  a  bishop,  charged  to  rule 
it,  and  to  carry  on  the  work  begun.      This 
bishop  spread  the  Gospel  in  the  surrounding 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishojys. 


167 


towns,  and  there  formed  churches,  to  which,  in 
his  turn,  he  gave  bishops.  The  new  churches 
considered  themselves  as  the  daughters  of  that 
which  had  begotten  them  in  the  faith;  they 
regarded  her  as  a  mother,  and  the  city  where 
she  was  established  became  for  them  a  mother' 
city  J  a  metropolis ;  for  such  is  the  signification 
of  the  word.  This  is  the  origin  of  the  ties  of 
subordination  which  attach  sees  simply  epis- 
copal to  sees  metropolitan. 

There  exists  no  necessary  bond  between 
provinces  ecclesiastical  and  provinces  of  civil 
administration ;  but  nothing  was  more  natural 
than  for  the  Church  to  adopt  administrative 
boundaries,  based  in  general  on  the  very  nature 
of  things.  It  hence  resulted  that,  generally, 
the  metropolitan  see  was  fixed  in  the  chief  city 
of  the  province.  But  these  sees  themselves 
were  too  numerous  not  to  feel  the  need  of 
grouping  themselves  around  a  common  centre. 
The  prefecture  of  the  East  was  divided  into  five 
great  circumscriptions,  which  bore  the  names 
of  the  Egyptian,  Eastern,  Asian,  Pontian,  and 
Thracian  dioceses.  Also  we  early  see  the  bi- 
shops of  Alexandria,  Antioch,  Ephesus,  Coesarea, 
of  Cappadocia,  and  of  the  Thracian  Heraclea, 
exercising  a  certain  authority  over  the  metro- 
politans of  their  jurisdiction.  The  title  borne 
by  the  titularies  of  these  great  sees  was  not 


41 


1  4 


si 


I 
I  I 


158 


Tlie  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


uniformly  fixed  at  their  origin.  The  bishops 
of  Ephesus,  of  C«^sarea,  and  of  Heraclea  were 
called  Exarchs;  later,  the  name  of  ^«<''»- 
arch  was   given  to  those  of  Alexandria  and 

Antioch.  .       /-.      i.     x- 

At  the  epoch  of  its  foundation  Constanti- 
nople depended  on  the  see  of  Heraclea.     The 
importance  of  the  Bishop  of  Byzantium  increased 
with  that  of  the  city,  which  had  became  the 
capital  of  the  empire,  and  the  «««  of  Constan- 
tinople soon  ranged  under  its  authority  all  the 
metropolitans  of  the  diocese  of  Thrace  as  well 
as  those  of  the  dioceses  of  Asia  and  of  Pontus.* 
Jerusalem  was  then  a  simple  bishopric,  having 
for  its  metropolis  C^sarea  in  Palestine,  itselt 
subiect  to  the  authority  of  Antioch.   But  Chris- 
tians could  not  forget  that  in  Jerusalem  was 
accomplished  the  mystery  of  our  redemption : 
the  finding  of  the  Cross  by  the  Empress  Helena, 
the  magnificent  basilica  built  over  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  by  order  of  Constantine    the  con- 
course of  pilgrinis,-everything  contributed  to 
raise  the  importance  of  this  Church.     The  bi- 

.  On  the  origin  of  the  see  of  Constantinople,  and  Ae  f  rcum- 

.  Wh  Idded  to  its  importance,  see  the  remarkable  work 

fT  Her^en^^ier,  PA<.*i-  Patriarck  .on  Constantinopelsei. 

of  Dr.  "^.■^««°^«"''  '       ^  ^^,  griechucke  Schuma,  Eegensburg, 

S"'  tr^tt  ;fok  is  toted'to  the  history  of  the  see  of  Con 

1867.     Ihe  nrsi  j       Nation  to  Photius.    It  is  greatly  U>  be 

'S^^tJZ  itortL  worU,  written  in  German,  should  be 

soon  translated  into  other  languages. 


The  Bishops. 


159 


Cliap.  IV. 

shop  of  the  holy  city  could  scarcely  remain 
in  the  last  rank  of  the  hierarchy.     Councils, 
the  interpreters  of  the  feelings  of  the  faithful, 
detached  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Antioch  a  cer- 
tain number  of  dioceses,  of  which  was  formed 
the  patriarchate  of  Jerusalem.*     Alexandria 
and  Antioch  have  remained  invested  with  a 
supremacy  recognised  from   all  time      Thus 
were  formed  the  four  great  patriarchates  of  the 
East,-Constantinople,t  Alexandria,  Antioch, 
and  Jerusalem.     The  Bishop  of  Eome  was  pa- 
triarch of  all  the  West. 

Unity  is  the  law  of  the  Church.   There  was 
one  sole  bishop  in  each  diocese ;  several  bishops 
crrouped  themselves  around  one  sole  metropo- 
Utan ;  several  metropolitans  around  one  sole 
patriarch.     The  patriarchs,  in  their  turn,  must 
have  a  centre.    Our  Lord  had  given  a  head  to 
the  Apostolic  College  in  the  person  of  St.  Peter. 
The  bishops  of  Eome,  successors  of  St.  Peter, 
had  remained  invested  with  an  authority  ex- 
tending over  the  Universal  Church.     This  au- 
thority, perfectly  recognised  in  the  East,  was 
invoked  only  in  extraordinary  circumstances ; 

*  This  may  be  said  without  prejudice  of  the  blame  merited  by 
the  ambltious'ntriguesof  some  bishops  of  Jerusalem.  Seei>Aot.«*, 

'^  T^^^^^^^^  --^  ^-^rTnT  mut 

definiUvely  recognised  at  the  see  of  Constanttaople  tdl  much 
later. 


t 


^5  I 

;  i*  I 


'rv 


•     k 


X 


160 


TJie  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


161 


short  of  these  it  was  enough  to  have  recourse 

to  the  patriarchs. 

Such  was  the  ancient  organisation  ot  tne 

hierarchy  in  the  Church. 

When  the  Eussians  embraced  Christianity, 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  sent  them  a 
bishop,  who  remained  subject  to  his  authority. 
The  Christian  faith  having  spread  itself  beyond 
the  limits  of  Kieff,  it  soon  became  necessary 
to  organise  in  Eussia  several  dioceses  •  and  the 
see  of  Kieff  became  metropolitan,  without  ceas- 
in-  to  be  subordinate  to  the  see  of  Constan- 
tinople.     It  is  no  part  of  our  plan  to  give 
the  history  of  the  relations  between  the  two 
Churches    We  confine  ourselves  to  saying  that, 
subiect  in  principle  to  Constantinople  i^  fact 
the  Eussian  Church  very  early  found  herself 
in  possession  of  a  certain  autonomy      i  or  a 
long  period  she  was  wholly  governed  by  one 
single  metropolitan,  the  Bishop  of  Kieff.     It 
was  then  usual  at  that  time  to  distmguish  a 
metropolitan  from   a   simple  bishop.      Later 
when  the  Church  of  Ukraine  separated  itselt 
from  the  Muscovite  Church,  each  of  them  had 
at  its  head  a  metropolitan.     That  of  Kieff  ex- 
ercised very  extended  rights  in  TJkrame  and 
Lithuania ;  that  of  Moscow  had  the  same  au- 
thority in  the  north-east.  Then  also  they  knew 
how  to  distinguish  ecclesiastical  provinces. 


«•> 


1 

i 


At  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
patriarchate  of  Moscow  was  erected :  four  me- 
tropolitans were  created  under  its  jurisdiction. 
This  number  grew  with  time ;  and  at  length, 
in  1685,  fifteen  years  before  the  death  of  the 
last  patriarch,  the  old  Church  of  Kieff  paled 
before  her  young  sister  of  Moscow ;  the  metro- 
politan of  the  Ukraine  transferred  to  the  Mos- 
cow patriarch  the  obedience  he  had   always 
rendered  to  him  of  Constantinople.      At  the 
commencement  of  Peter  I.'s  reign,  the  Eussian 
Church  counted  eight  metropolitans.    Not  con- 
tent with  abolishing  the  patriarchate,  the  de- 
stroyer of  the  hierarchy  suppressed  the  metro- 
politans also:  in  April  1724  not  one  remained. 
The  last  survivor,  Sylvester  of  Smolensk,  had 
been  transferred  to  the  see  of  Tver,  and  re- 
duced to  the  rank  of  bishop.     The  clergy  saw 
with  pain  this  overthrow,  especially  in  Ukraine, 
where  they  remembered  the  almost  complete 
independence  they  had  enjoyed  under  the  su- 
zerainty of  Constantinople ;  but  they  did  not 
attempt  to  resist. 

When  Peter  I.  established  the  Synod,  the 
bishops  found  themselves  all  on  a  level  before 
this  assembly,  in  which  centred  all  authority. 
If  to-day  some  bear  the  title  of  bishop,  others 
that  of  archbishop,  a  few  that  of  metropolitan, 
these  distinctions  are  purely  honorary;  they 


■J  ; 


$ 


162 


The  Bishops. 


Cliap.  IV. 


constitute  a  difference  of  provision  without  es- 
tablishing  any  bond  of  subordination,      btill 
farther,  by  a  discipline  unknown  to  antiquity, 
the  title  is  attached  to  the  person  rather  than 
to  the  see.     There  certainly  exists  a  usage  by 
virtue  of  which  the  bishops  of  Moscow,  Kieflf, 
and  Petersburg,   are   metropolitans;    but  we 
have  seen  bishops  succeed  to  the  see  of  Moscow 
with  the  title  of  archbishop,  and  not  receive 
till  later  that  of  metropolitan.     Such  was  the 
case  with  Mgr.  Tilaret.     Yery  lately  Mgr. 
Gregory  Posnikoff,  before  being  promoted  to 
the  see  of  Petersburg,  held  that  of  Kazan  with 
the  title  of  metropolitan,  which  did  not  pass 
to  his  successor.     These  titles  are  given  m  the 
clerical  career  as  that  of  privy  councillor  is  m 

the  civil. 

Prom  this  state  of  things  it  results  that 
the  idea  of  hierarchy  is  obscured  and  almost 
effaced  from  the  mind.    Yet  it  has  not  com- 
pletely disappeared.    We  recollect  that  eccle- 
siastical history  and  canon  law  speak  of  pro- 
vincial councils ;  which  involves  the  notion  of 
ecclesiastical  provinces,  and  of  bishops  subor- 
dinated to  a  metropolitan.     To  revive  the  use 
of  these  councils  and  to  reestablish  the  pro- 
yinces  is  being  thought  of.    The  proof  of  this 
is  in  a  very  remarkable  article,  pubhshed  by 
the  Moscow  Gazette.  October  if,  1866,  No.  216. 


li 


Cliap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


163 


Here  is  a  passage,  translated  from  the  Kus- 
sian : 

'  We  must  not,  ho^veve^,  despise  the  danger  the  Ortho- 
dox Church  runs  through  the  outward  disunion  in  which 
she  now  is.     The  Orthodox  Church  is  essentially  cecu- 
menical,  and  it  ought  to  appear  in  the  character  essential 
to  it.     The  enemies  of  Kussia,  and  the  spirits  hostile  to 
cxjcumenical  orthodoxy,  who  know  it,  seek  to  spread  the 
opinion  that  the  Russian  Church  has  been  completely 
transformed  into  a  political  institution ;  in  consequence 
of  Avhich  she  finds  herself,  so  far  as  a  Church,  in  a  state  of 
inaction  and  death.     This  is  an  exaggeration,  hut  it  mmt 
he  confessed  that  such  reports  are  not  icithout  a  hasis.  The 
oecumenical  Church,  in  virtue  of  its  constitution,  ought  to 
live  the  same  life  and  to  have  the  same  spirit  in  every 
country  on  earth.    In  order  to  maintiiin  ecumenical  unity 
every  Church  ought  to  be  found  in  lining  communion  with 
aU  others ;  and  the  first  condition  for  this,  doubtless,  con- 
sists in  the  living  communion  which  each  particular  Church 
of  the  one  oecumenical  Church  ought  to  maintain  in  its  own 
limits  (among  its  different  parts),  and  for  the  preservation 
of  which  the  canons  of  the  Church  have  instituted  the  local 
or  provincial  councils.    Anciently  the  provincial  councHs 
assembled  twice  a  year  under  the  presidency  of  the  metro- 
politan; later,  because  of  certain  difficulties,  the  sixth 
oecumenical  council  permitted  them  to  assemble  only  once 
a  year  in  virtue  of  canonical  laws  which  have  not  been 
abrogated  by  any  legitimate  authority.     The  provincial 
council,  according  to  the  canons  of  oecumenical  councils, 
ought  to  be  convoked  by  the  circular  letters  of  the  me- 
tropolitan ;  it  is  this  council  which  decides  controverted 
ecclesiastical  questions   and  doubtful  cases ;   which  exa- 
mines  complaints  made  against  the  bishops,  which  chooses 
them,  institutes  them,  and  judges  them.     Of  these  coun- 


.  '-I 

! 


1    M 


J-W       ^#^?»l-i-S«™lM»    V 


»,*a6«!S^'^*«e»i»f5w 


\^ 


I 


' 


ill 


fe 


!^ 


164 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV- 


Chap.  IT. 


The  Bishops. 


165 


cUs,  established  by  the  Apostles  then.selves  (STth  Apos 
tolkal  Canon)  we  have  had  none  for  ^^-^  P^^^;  J^J 
Holy  Synod  cannot  take  their  pl^'=«'.^^'=^^^',  f,\i'  Je 
Zps  drnot  take  part  in  its  deliberations  ;  whdst  all  the 
Sips  ou.ht  absolutely  to  sit  in  the  provincial  councils 
Si  they  were  instituted  by  the  Apostles  and  the 
ncS  cBCuLnical.     Only  oM  age  ^^cknjs    -  -- 
extreme  necessity  could  excuse  the  ^^^^f  ^P^^^^.  ^^  ";'. 
every  year  present  himself  in  the  assembly  of  his  brethren 
oZw'ise  he  was  subject  to  -  ecclesiastical  pu-J-^^^ 
(Can.  87  of  the  Council  of  Carthage,  19th  of  tbe4thCEcu 

tni  al  Council,  50th  of  the  6*  ^----^.^^^^^tid 
Yet  with  us  quite  recently  the  diocesan  bishops  had 
still  no  ;Lm  to  go  out  of  the  limits  of  their  dioc^^sf^^^ 
PVPn  the  shortest  time.     This  isolation  of  the  bishops 
iafy  to  apostolical  constitutions  and  to  tl^e  canons  o 
r  Ecumenical  councUs,  has  had  the  most  painful  results 
for  th  nSof  the  Church.     It  is  but  lately  that  our  bi- 
hops  have  been  permitted  to  aW  themse^es  fo-gh 
days  on  notice  being  given  to  the  Holy  Synod,  and  lor 
tSnty-eight  days  with  the  previous  authorisation  of  the 
Tvnod     Last  summer,  two  bishops  whose  dioceses  are 
bynocl.     -i-asi  ^Lgcow  Mgr.  Irenarcus,  Archbishop 

contiguous  to  that  of  Moscow,  xvi  i  cs^.i^cV   pro- 

nf  T^Pzan    and  Mgr.  Antonius,  Bishop  of  SmolensK,  pro 
Id  by  thiB  newi;.acquired  right.     After  doing  reverence 
tihe' ancient  sLctuaries  of  Moscow,  «ieyh^d-^^^ 
Gethsemane  Hermitage  an  interview  with  ^"^e  ^ 
tan  Mgr.  Filaret.     These  direct  communications  be  ween 
he  pasTors  of  the  Church  cannot  fail  to  -d  circulat  ng 
4l,rnLh  the  body  of  the  Church  a  sap  new,  living,  ana 
tnetn?    The'necessity  of  these  interchanges  of  ideas 
daily  makes  itself  more  felt.  ^.^_ 

The  present  reign,  whilst  calhng  into  new 
ferent  elLents  of  L  national  and  PoHticaWrga— 
announces  to  the  Church  also  the  renewal  of  that  life 


\ 


which  she  was  deprived,  and  the  reestablishment  of  the 
order  of  things  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  oecumenical  coun- 
cUs    We  have  received  news  that  the  imperial  defender 
of  orthodoxy  and  the  guardian  of  the  Church's  rights  has 
invited  the  Holy  Synod  to  deUberate  on  the  reestablish- 
ment of  the  canonical  laws  prescribing  the  convocation 
of  councils,   which,  according  to  the   apostolic  decrees, 
should  assemble  every  year.     When  councils  shall  have 
been  reestablished  among  us,  their  deliberations  wiU  put 
the  bishops  in  direct  relations  with  one  another,  and  will 
introduce  into  theChurch  that  life  which  formerly  animated 
her  ■  and  then  our  Church  will  acquire  the  possibility  of 
entering  into  relation  with  other  orthodox  Churches,  and 
will  become  oecumenical  no  longer  in  name  only,  but  also 
in  fact     Then  will  the  malevolent  reproaches  addressed 
to  her  by  our  secret  and  open  enemies  fall  of  themselves. 

We  know  not  where  tliose  secret  and  public 
enemies  of  the  Kussian  Churcli  are  wMcli  M. 
Katkoff,  the  editor  of  the  Moscow  Gazette,  refers 
to      We  are  not  afraid  to  assure  him  that  all 
Catholics  will  applaud  his  language,  and  that 
no  one  wishes  to  see  the  accomplishment  of  the 
reforms  in  question  more  than  we  do ;  but  we 
can  speak  only  of  that  which  exists,  and  even 
the  article  of  the  Moscow  Gazette  finds  fault 
with  an  important   omission.      The   eminent 
publicist  cites  the  canons  which  attribute  to 
the  provincial  councils  the  right  of  electing, 
iudging,  and   deposing  bishops.     Let  us. see 
how  these  canons  are  observed  in  the  Kussian 
Church,  and  first  let  us  take  a  glance  at  history. 


cv 


166 


The  Bishops. 


ciiap.  rv. 


The  Apostles  themselves  appointed  bishops 
in  the  Churches  they  founded;  but  the  first  dis- 
ciples of  the  Apostles,  such  as  Titus  and  Tirao- 
theus,  perceiving  no  longer  the  same  personal 
ascendency,  chose  bishops  only  with  the  con- 
currence of  the  faithful  *     There  were  thence- 
forward, well  says  Dr.  Hefele,t  whom  here  we 
foUoAV,  two  factors,  which  concur,  each  in  its 
share,  in  the  election.     The  Church,  that  is  to 
say  the  faithful,  brought  its  testimony  in  fav- 
our of  the  candidate ;  it  declared  him  worthy 
((Z|/oj)  of  the  episcopate,]:  and  the  disciple   of 
the  Apostles  confirmed  the  election.   When  the 
immediate  disciples  of  the  Apostles  had  in  their 
turn  disappeared,  the  mode   of  electing  was 
again  modified.    The  clergy  and  the  people  of 
the  Church  to  be  provided  for  proposed  a  can- 
didate, and  the  bishops  of  the  province  imme- 
diately instituted   and   ordained  the   elected. 
Sometimes  the  people  did  not  present  sufiicient 
guarantees,  or  made  a  bad  choice.     Then  the 
bishops  directly  proceeded  to  the  election,  in 
which,  in  the  two  cases,  they  had  always  the 
principal  share.§  The  Council  of  Nicsea  deemed 

*  2u«t,8oK7,(raff7)s  t^j  iKKMaiat  ir<i<rnj.     S.  Clem.,  1st  Epist.  to 

the  Corinthians,  ill  v. 

t  Hefele  (C.  J.),  now  Bishop  of  Eottemburg,  Coiwilten  be- 
ichiclite,  vol.  i.  p.  366  et  seq.  t  1  Tim.  iii.  7. 

§  Hefele,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  367.  He  cites  Cypnan,  epist.  68— 
Ueveridge,  -XwdSiKov,  sen  Pandectce  Canonum  (Oxonu,  1672),  vol. 


f«<fe!#fe**^^Wi^^^' 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


167 


it  necessary  to  more  clearly  determme  the 
powers  of  the  electing  bishops.  It  willed  that 
at  least  three  bishops,  carrying  the  written 
consent  of  the  other  bishops  of  the  province 
should  take  part  in  the  election,  which  must 
afterwards  be  confirmed  by  the  metropolitan. 

(Cone.  Nic.  can.  4.)* 

In  the  Latin  Church  the  discipline  has 
varied  with  the  times.     The  right  to  elect  has 
been  often  conferred  on  chapters ;  a  great  num- 
ber of  concordats  have  ceded  it  to  the  sovereign, 
substituted  for  the  people,  who  exercised  the 
same  right  in  the  primitive  Church.    For  some 
time  past  there  has  been  observed  in  different 
Churches  a  progressive  return  to  the  ancient 
custom   of  having  the  bishop  elected  by  the 
bishops  of  the  same  province,  or  by  the  pro- 
vincial council.     In  certain  cases  the  mode  of 
election  partakes  of  different  systems ;  but  the 
confirmation,  or  institution,  is  always  reserved 
to  the  Pope.    To  speak  properly,  the  chapters, 
bishops,  and  princes  here  play  the  same  part  as 
the  people  in  the  ancient  elections ;  the  defini- 
tive election,  formerly  exercised  by  the  metro- 

ii.  app.  p.  47-Van  Espen,  Commentar.  in  Canon,  et  Decret.  (Colon. 

"''Vhe  question  ^i.  both  of  the  election  and  of  the  conse- 
cration  of  the  bishop.  The  same  principles  are  found  in  the 
Councils  of  Antioch,  in  3-11,  can.  19  ;  of  Laodicea,  between  343 
and  381,  can.  12 ;  the  second  c.  of  Nicica,  in  787,  can.  d. 


.AmSm-'mS^'^- 


■^■s^f^sT"-^--' 


IMppBSwIfNp? 


168 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


politan  with  tlie  assistance  of  the  bishops,  is 
transferred  to  the  Holy  See.  St.  Cyprian,  in 
the  passage  (Epis.  68)  indicated  above,  distin- 
guished the  suffragium  and  the  judicium ;  he 
attributed  the  suffragium  to  the  whole  of  the 
clergy  and  people,  whom  he  named /ra^^razVa,9, 
the  judicium  remaining  the  apanage  of  the  bi- 
shops. To-day  the  suffragium  belongs  to  the 
fraternitas  represented  whether  by  the  chapter, 
the  prince,  or  by  the  bishops,  and  the  judicium 
is  reserved  to  the  Apostolic  See. 

In  the  United  Oriental  Churches  the  judi- 
cium  belongs  to  the  patriarch,  without  refer- 
ence to  Eome.  Only  the  patriarch  himself  asks 
of  the  Pope  his  own  confirmation;  but  he  is 
elected  by  the  bishops  of  his  nation,  and  begins 
to  exercise  his  jurisdiction  from  the  very  day 
of  his  election. 

In  all  the  Churches  separated  from  Eome 
there  is  the  same  discipline.  Everywhere  the 
patriarch,  or  he  who  fills  his  place,  confirms  the 
nominated  bishops  when  he  does  not  nominate 
them  himself.  If  the  fiction  be  admitted  in 
virtue  of  which  the  Synod  represents  the  patri- 
arch, it  is  quite  natural  that  the  judicium  should 
belong  to  him.  The  time  to  treat  of  the  Synod 
is  not  yet  come ;  but  we  are  of  M.  Katkoff 's 
opinion,  that  there  would  be  every  advantage 
in  the  suffragium^  being  exercised  by  the  bishops 


1 


Chap.  TV. 


The  Bishops. 


169 


of  the  province,  and  even  in  leaving  the  judi- 
cium to  the  Synod  there  would  be  great  improve- 
ment ;  for  it  is  obvious  that,  except  for  grave 
reasons,  the  Synod  should  always  confirm  the 
choice  of  the  bishops. 

This  is  the  place  to  recall  another  import- 
ant disposition  of  the  canonical  law.     "When 
we  study  the  history  of  the  Greek  Church  we 
readily  perceive  that  the  councils,  having  before 
their  eyes  too  frequent  proofs  of  all  the  incon- 
veniences inherent  in  the  interference  of  the 
Byzantine  emperors  in  the  choice  of  bishops, 
endeavoured  to  prevent  a  return  to  it  by  grant- 
ing to  the  bishops  the  right  of  election.    These 
councils  speak  not  of  a  pretended  election,  but 
of  a  true  election,  in  which  every  one  is  free 
to  vote  for  him  whom  he  judges  to  be  worthy 
of  the  episcopate.     This  is  why  the  3d  canon 
of  the  second  Council  of  Nica3a  (787)  agreeing 
on  this  point  with  the  31st  apostolical  canon,  de- 
clares null  the  election  of  a  bishop)  when  it  has  been 
made  by  the  prince.     The  reason  of  it  is  very 
simple  :  the  emperors  could  not  give  to  the  bi- 
shops a  jurisdiction  which  they  themselves  did  not 
possess.     Farther,  it  was  necessary  to  prevent 
the  favour  of  the  eunuchs  from  placing  in  the 
chair  of  Chrysostom  and  Athanasius,  as  wn<^  too 
often  seen,  an  Arian,  Nestorian,  Monophysite, 
or  Iconoclastic  priest.     The  Church  ought  to 


MM 


170 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


reserve  to  itself  the  right  of  driving  away  men 
disguised  as  pastors,  who  woidd  have  been  only 
mercenarieSj  courtiers,  perhaps  wolves. 

It  might  be  admitted  uj)  to  a  certain  point 
that  the  Eussian  bishops  could  be  designated 
by  the  emperor,  provided  that  the  Synod  were 
invested  with  sufficient  authority  armed  with 
independence  enough  never  to  sanction  an 
unworthy  choice,  and  one  which  conscience 
disapproved.  Is  this  exactly  the  case?  And 
if  the  intervention  of  the  Synod  is  only  a  fic- 
tion, a  formality,  must  it  not  be  concluded 
therefrom  that  the  third  canon  of  the  second 
Council  of  Niccea  nullifies  all  episcopal  nomi- 
nations? And  have  not  the  Staroveres  (dissen- 
ters) serious  motives  for  refusing  their  obedi- 
ence to  bishops  whose  nominations  are  not 
canonical  ?  Let  them  ridicule  as  they  will  those 
rude  peasants  transformed  into  bishops  by  the 
imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  metropolitan  of 
Bela  Krinitza^  (White  Fountain),  the  canon  of 
the  council  does  not  reach  them ;  they  at  least 
do  not  hold  their  commission  from  the  tsar. 

Lately,  moreover,  the  Synod  of  St.  Peters- 
burg, consulted  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople on  the  aff'airs  of  the  Koumanian  Church, 

*  See  on  this  subject  Eckardt,  Modern  Russia  (London,  1870), 
in  the  chapter  *  The  Greek  Orthodox  Church  of  Russia  and  her 
Sects.'  (^Trans.) 


•^-^JSm 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


171 


% 


k 


recommended  to  the  Koumanian  bishops,  in  re- 
ference to  the  innovation  attempted  by  Prince 
Couza,  to  place  themselves  in  presence  of  the 
30th  apostolic  canon  and  to  examine  their  con- 
sciences. What  says  this  canon  ?  '  If  any 
bishop,  making  use  of  the  secular  power,  thereby 
obtain  a  Church,  let  him  be  deposed  and  sepa- 
rated, and  all  who  communicate  with  him.'* 

We  put  it  to  any  candid  man,  is  it  impos- 
sible to  find  in  the  Synod's  communion  a  bishop 
indebted  for  his  elevation  to  the  secular  powers  ? 
It  would,  on  the  contrary,  be  very  difficult  to 
find  one  not  touched  by  this  canon.  But  let  us 
confine  ourselves  for  the  moment  to  establish- 
ing that  there  has  been  at  least  one  bishop  in- 
contestably  smitten  by  the  30th  apostolic  canon 
— Theophane  Prokopovich.  This  man,  at  first 
a  United  Greek,  after  having  studied  at  Eome, 
came  to  seek  his  fortune  in  Eussia.  Not  only 
did  he  strip  himself  of  his  Catholicism  as  an 
obstacle  to  his  career,  but  farther  adopted  doc- 

*  This  canon,  cited  as  the  30th  by  the  Synod,  bears  the  no.  31 
in  the  collection  of  Dionysius  Exiguus,  and  no.  29  in  that  of 
Hardouin,  Mansi,  &;c.  See  Hefele,  Concilien  Geschlchte^  app.  at 
the  end  of  vol.  i.  The  very  text  of  this  canon  sufficiently  proves 
that  it  is  not  of  apostolic  origin.  From  the  time  of  the  Apos- 
tles, it  could  not  be  supposed  that  any  bishop  had  obtained  a 
bishopric  by  the  favour  of  Nero  or  of  his  ministers ;  but  the  tenor 
of  the  canon  must  have  been  borrowed  from  some  ancient  council 
of  the  time  of  the  Christian  emperors.  In  any  case,  the  Oriental 
Church,  and  the  Russian  Church  with  her,  fully  admits  the  au- 
thority and  authenticity  of  this  canon. 


» 


172 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


trines  wholly  Protestant.     He  made  his  way 
rapidly,  despite  his  unorthodox  opinions,  which 
marked  him  out  for  the  animadversion  of  the 
Eussian  bishops.     Peter  I.,  charmed  with  his 
docility,  and  wishing  to  make  him  the  instru- 
ment of  the  reforms  he  was  meditating,  resolved 
on  raising  him  to  the  episcopate.     Stephen  Yar 
vorski  was  then  governing  the  Eussian  Church 
as  the  patriarch's  vicar.     This  man  forwarded 
to  the  tsar  a  memorial  for  preventing  this  pro- 
motion, alleging  the  doctrines  of  the  candidate, 
and  grounded  his  opinion  on  twelve  extracts 
taken  from  a  thoroughly  Protestant  book  writ- 
ten by  Prokopovich  under  this  title,  Tlie  In- 
supportable Yoke*   Yavorski  demanded  that  at 
least  Theophane  should  retract  his  errors.  Peter 
himself  questioned  the  accused,  found  his  ex- 
planations satisfactory,  passed  on  and  had  him 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Pskoff,  June  1st,  1717. 
(Russian  Talk,  1860,  vol.  i.  p.  I01.)t 

If  Theophane  Prokopovich  fall  not  under 
the  ban  of  the  apostolic  canon,  we  truly  know 
not  to  whom  to  apply  it ;  and  if  he  cannot  es- 
cape this  censure  he  is  excommunicated,  he  and 
all  who  have  fellowship  with  him,  that  is  the 
Synod  and  the  whole   official  Church.     The 

*  061  Hrt  Hew6H0CBM0Mi.    A  Latin  translation  of  this  work 
appeared  in  1782  in  Leipzig,  under  the  title  DeJvgo  IntoUrabxh. 
j-  pyccKUfl  BectAa. 


**  -t .  -J 

.  -.'J 


Chap.  rV. 


The  Bishops. 


173 


■A 


'i^t*' 


letter  too  which  the  Synod  lately  addressed  to 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  respectmg  the 


aiiaiis  of  theEoumanian  Church,  and  which  wo 


i!. 


shall  quote  farther  on,  justifies  Ui.  iiaroyeres, 
who  are  unwilling  to  accept  the  communion  ot 

the  Synod. 

M.  Katkoff  considers  the  reforms  already 
made  under  the  present  reign  as  preliminary 
to  others.  We  fully  coincide  with  this  view, 
whilst  taking  into  account  one  observation. 
Among  the  causes  which  have  contributed  to 
awaken  in  minds  the  desire  of  seeing  the  Rus- 
sian Church  recover  her  autonomy  and  inde- 
pendence, it  would  be  unjust  to  forget  the 
establishment  of  the  Starovere  hierarchy. 

These  proscribed  and  despised  people,  after 
two  centuries  of  persecutions  and  contempt, 
have  appeared  all  at  once  with  an  episcopate 
at  their  head,  without  any  governmental  con- 
nection, without  bureaucracy,  without  sacerdo- 
tal caste.    'Tis  not  only  the  persecution  which 
has  ceased ;  contempt  and  scorn  have  also  iiad 
their  day.     People  began  to  say,  why  should 
not  we  also  be  independent  of  the  State  ?  How 
to  throw  off  the  encroachments  of  bureaucracy  ? 
How  put  an  end  to  the  development  of  LevHo- 
ism  ?  Let  not  the  official  Church  forget  it ;  she 
i^  receiving  lessons  from  the  Starovere  Churrl!  ; 
and  if  to-day  the  Moscow  Gazette  speaks  to  u^. 


%   V. 


"/i 


i 


174 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


•1  — " 


of  provincial  councils,  if  this  question  become 
the  subject  of  the  Synod's  deliberations,  this 
whisper  of  independence,  these  first  symptoms 
of  awaking,  it  is  to  the  Starovere  Church,  to 
her  hierarchy  in  the  Austrian  Empire,  to  the 
Aiutropolis  of  Bela-Krinitza,  that  they  are  ow- 
ing.   Nor  are  we  at  the  goal. 

See  to-day  the  philo-slaves  extending  their 
hands  to  the  Staroveres.  Ah !  if  these  new 
recruits  came  to  reinforce  the  ranks  of  those 
valiant  athletes,  we  should  rejoice  at  it.  But 
we  much  fear  there  is  a  misunderstanding  which 
will  be  powerful  for  evil  to  the  Staivveres.  Yes, 
the  philo-slaves  are  mscolniks  (sectaries).  This 
is  not  difiicult  to  see ;  but  they  will  never  ac- 
cept any  hierarchy;  their  place  is  not  in  the 
Starovere  Church,  not  even  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Bezpopovstchina  ;^  it  is  in  the  extreme  sects 
which  reject  all  authority. 

Let  us  return  to  our  subject.  The  bishops 
in  Eussia  are  named  by  the  emperor :  the  Synod 
confines  itself  to  countersigning  the  imperial 
nominations,  and  every  one  knows  that  it  has 
not  authority  enough  to  enter  into  a  struggle 
with  power;  its  approval,  then,  is  only  an  empty 
and  insignificant  formality.*!" 

*  BeanonoBmiina  (without  priests).  So  are  called  a  large  portion 
of  tlie  Russian  dissenters,  subdivided  into  many  sects,  and  admit- 
ting of  no  priest  of  any  kind.  {Tra?is.) 

t  According  to  a  resolution  of  Peter  the  Great  (Feb.  14, 1721), 


"'S^ 


The  canons  of  the  councils  cited  by  M.  Kat- 
koff  reserve  to  the  provincial  council  the  right 
of  judging  and  condemning  bishops.  None  can 
be  deprived  of  his  see  except  after  sentence 
from  this  tribunal  pronouncing  his  deposition. 
The  Church  has  wished  to  guarantee  their  irre- 
movability as  a  first  condition  of  their  inde- 
pendence. On  this  point,  again,  the  canon  law 
is  not  observed  in  Eussia.  "We  find  at  once 
the  proof  of  this  in  the  ease  with  which  the 
bishops  are  transferred  from  one  see  to  another. 
We  shall  perhaps  be  told  that  in  the  Catholic 
Church  also  translations  are  to-day  not  rare. 
We  grant  that  the  ancient  discipline  has  on 
this  point  been  relaxed,  and  even  that  trans- 
lations have  sometimes  their  advantages ;  but, 
at  least  in  the  Catholic  Church,  one  rarely  bcub 
a  bishop  translated  more  than  once,  and  never 
against  his  will ;  whilst  it  is  quite  otherwise 
in  Eussia.  Mgr.  Filaret,  who,  at  his  death  in 
1857,  was  Metropolitan  of  Kieff,  had  former! v 
been  Bishop  of  Kalouga,  Archbishop  of  Eezan, 
and  Archbishop  of  Kazan.  In  1863  died  i 
bishop  named  Smaragdus,  who  had  occupi  d 
ill  succession  seven  different  sees.  At  one  time 
for  advancement,  at  another  for  disgrace^ 


tiie 


the  Synod  presents  two  name?,  the  Emperor  chooses  one  of  them ; 
but  nothing  is  easier  than  to  have  inserted  the  one  intended  be- 
forehand. 


't      I  i\ 


^i 


176 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


TJie  Bishops. 


177 


Eussian  bishops  pass  from  one  diocese  to  an- 
otiier  with  as  much  facility  as  elsewhere  a 
prefet  from  a  prefecture ;  and  but  very  little 
heed  is  paid  as  to  their  consent. 

'Tis  not  only  by  the  aid  of  these  indirect 
means  that  a  blow  is  given  to  the  principle  of 
irremovability.  Peter  I.  and  his  successors 
had  never  troubled  themselves  to  depose  bishops 
with  whom  they  were  discontented,  though  they 
had  no  canonical  fault  to  reproach  them  for. 
Thus  in  1718,  Dositheus,  Bishop  of  Eostoff, 
was  degraded,  put  to  the  torture,  and  broken 
on  the  wheel ;  and  when  he  had  expired,  his 
head,  severed  from  the  trunk,  was  fixed  upon 
a  pike,  and  his  body  delivered  to  the  flames. 

What,  now,  was  his  crime  ?  The  convent 
where  Peter  had  shut  up  his  own  wife,  that  he 
might  more  freely  satisfy  his  adulterous  pas- 
sions, was  situated  in  Dositheus's  diocese;  the 
bishop  was  reproached  with  having  allowed 
the  tsarina  to  wear  secular  garments,  and  with 
having  entertained  her  with  visions  and  pro- 
phecies announcing  the  approaching  death  of 
the  emperor.* 

*  Ustryaloff,  HcTopifl  I^apcTBOBaHia  nciiinBrnKHTO  {History  of  the 
Beign  of  Peter  the  Great),  CnO.  1858,  vol.  vi.  pp.  213,  219,  224,  226. 
pyccKiti  BtCTHiiKT.  (.Russian  Messenger),  June  18G3,  p.  463.— At  the 
same  epoch  Joseph  Krakowski,  Archbishop  of  KiefP,  was  arrested 
and  conducted  under  escort  to  Petersburg.  This  aged  man  of 
seventy  succumbed  on  the  road,  and  died  at  Tver.    It  was  then 


In  1721  Aaron,  Bishop  of  Carelia,  was  shut 
up  in  a  convent.*  In  1725  Theodosius,  Arch- 
bishop of  Novgorod  and  vice-president  of  the 
Synod,  was  stript  of  his  dignity  and  impri- 
soned, f  In  1727  Philotheus  of  Tobolsk  was 
obliged  to  retire  into  a  monastery.  J 

At  the  accession  of  the  Empress  Anne, 
when  Biren  became  all-powerful,  persecution 
again  set  in  with  redoubled  rigour.  Barlaam 
Vonatovicz,  Metropolitan  of  Kieff,  was  degraded 
in  1730  (ukase,  Nov.  30th)  without  any  one's 
troubling  himself  to  say  why.  It  is  said  that 
he  had  omitted  to  chant  the  Te  Deum  on  an 
imperial  fete-day.  According  to  other  ac- 
counts, Prokopovich  had  a  grudge  against  him 
for  having  had  printed  a  fine  edition  of  Etienne 
Tavorski's  '  Stone  of  the  Faith'  [Kamen  very). 
Leon  Yourloff,  Bishop  of  Yoronege,  was  de- 
graded at  the  same  time  as  Barlaam  Vona- 
tovicz, and  besides  suffered  the  punishment  of 
the  knout  in  public.  ||  Georges  Dashkoff,  Arch- 
bishop of  Eostoff,  and  Ignatius  Smola,  Bishop 

acknowledged  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  fault  alleged  against 
him.  Ibid.  p.  255;  note,  Justificatory  Papers,  175,  176,  and  188. 

*  Russian  Messenger,  June  1863,  p.  463,  article  by  M.  Melnikoff 
on  the  Staroverean  Bishops. 

t  Russian  Messenger,  June  1863.  p.  463.  %  Ibid. 

§  Filaret,  Hciopia  pyccKoii  ^epKBH  {History  of  tlie  Russia^i 
Church),  torn.  v.  pp.  57,  68,  119  :  see  especially  the  notes. 

II  Filaret,  op.  cit.  vol.  v.  pp.  58,  119;  Russian  Messe?iger,  June 
1863,  p.  463. 


i  i 


»   I 


ti 


.'.  ^ 


178 


The  Bishops. 


CUap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishojjs. 


179 


of  Kolomna,*  members  of  the  Synod,  were  "botli 
stript  of  their  dignity,  in  December  1730,  for 
not  having  shown  sufficient  eagerness  in  con- 
demni^ig  the  Bishop  oif  Voron^ge,  who  was  in- 
nocent.\  Sylvester,  Archbishop  of  Kazan,  who 
was  noted  for  his  zeal  in  propagating  Christi- 
anity in  his  diocese,  was  degraded  Dec.  31st, 
1731  .J  Herodion  of  Tchernigoff  was  confined 
in  a  monastery  in  1734.§ 

Biren's  most  celebrated  victim  was  Theo- 
phylact  Lopatinski,  Archbishop  of  Tver,  and  a 
member  of  the  Synod. 

»  Filaret,  vol.  v.  pp.  58, 119, 120 ;  JtvuianMeucn^er,  June  18C3, 

t  The  true  motive  for  the  hatred  coDceived  by  Biren  and  Tlieo- 
phane  Prokopovich  against  the  Metropolitan  of  Kieff   the  Aixih- 
iishop  of  Tver,  the  Archbishop  of  Rostoff,  the  Bishop  of  Voronege, 
and  that  of  Kolomna,  ^as  the  part  these  prelates  had  taken  m   he 
x^egotiations  opened  at  Moscow  by  the  Abbe  Jube,  delegate  of  the 
Sorbonne,  with  the  aid  of  the  Duke  of  Liria,  ^^^^^^f  ^^^'^^^P^/^^- 
The  object  of  these  was  the  union  of  the  Russian  Church  with   he 
Catholic.    This  happened  in  the  reign  of  Peter  II.,  and  during  the 
«seendency  of  the  Dolgoroukies.    The  idea  of  the  reunion  seems  to 
have  had  the  support  of  Prince  Basil  Loukich  Dolgorouky  after- 
^ards  executed,  and  that  of  several  other  members  of  his  family. 
The  Abbe  Jube  entered  Russia  as  preceptor  to  the  children  of  Prince 
Sergius  Dolgorouky,  whose  wife,  the  Princess  Irene  {nee  Galitzm), 
had  embraced  Catholicism.     These  projects  miscarried  in  conse- 
<.uence  of  the  death  of  Peter  II.  and  the  accession  of  Anne  which 
brought  disgrace  to  the  Dolgoroukies;  and  above  all,  by  the  Cal- 
vinistic  tyranny  of  Biren,  seconded  by  hatred  of  I^o^^oP^^^f  ^^^^^ 
of  his  worthy  friend  Prince  Tcherkasky.    It  is  remarkable  that  for 
200  years  past  the  saddest  times  in  Russian  history  have  been 
those  when  anti-Catholic  tendencies  have  had  the  upper  hand 

t  Russian  Messenger,  June  1863,  p.  4G3 ;  Filaret,  vol.  v.  p.  119. 

§  Russian  Messenger,  ibid. 


We  have  already  seen  the  opposition  that 
Theophane  Prokopovich  met  with  in  Etienno 
Yavorski.  The  vicar-patriarch  was  not  con- 
tent with  wishing  to  impose  on  Theophane  a 
retractation  of  his  Protestant  doctrines  before 
his  preferment  to  the  episcopate  ;  he  had  com- 
bated them  in  a  great  work  entitled  The  Stone 
of  the  Faith.  The  credit  of  Prokopovich,  and 
of  the  Protestants  who  surrounded  Peter  I., 
prevented  this  book  from  appearing;  but  in 
1728,  after  the  death  of  the  tsar,  Lopatinski, 
not  content  with  having  it  printed,  published 
also  an  apology  for  it.  All  the  hatred  Pro- 
kopovich bore  Yavorski  he  devoted,  after  the 
death  of  the  latter,  to  his  disciple ;  on  him  he 
•wreaked  all  liis  vengeance.  He  denounced  the 
two  works  to  Biren.  All  the  copies  were  seized. 
Lopatinski,  excluded  from  the  Synod  in  1730, 
cited  in  1732  before  the  tribunal  of  the  secret 
chancery,  was  beaten  with  rods,  put  to  the  tor- 
ture, kept  three  years  in  solitary  confinement, 
and  after  this  stript  of  the  archiepiscopal  dig- 
nity and  of  the  monastic  habit,  without  the 
Synod's  being  called  on  to  pronounce  sentence;* 
then  shut  up  in  a  fortress,  where,  smitten  with 
paralysis,  he  languished  until  the  accession 
of  Elizabeth,  who  reinstated  him  in  his  dig- 
nity. And  all  this  for  having  opposed  the  in- 

*  Filaret,  op.  cit.  vol.  v.  p.  59,  no.  101. 


It 

5« 


i 


/I 


SSS?4W*'*' 


■■■!\ 


180 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


181 


road  of  Protestantism  into  the  Eussian  Church ! 
Other  bishops,  as  we  have  seen,  were  ill-treated 
for  the  same  reason.     In  1736  Dositheus,  Bi- 
shop of  Koursk  and  Belgorod,  was  degraded. 
In  1738  Hilarion  of  Tchernigoff  and  Barlaam* 
of  Pskoff  were  relegated  to  monasteries.!    In 
1742  the  same  fate  befell  Peter  of  Belgorod 
and  Leonides  of  Krontitsy. J   It  was,  however, 
by  the  devout  Elizabeth  that  in  1748  Gabriel 
of  bustioug  was  treated  in  the  same  manner ;  § 
and  in  1757  that  Gennadius  of  Kostroma  was 
stript  of  the  episcopal  dignity.  1|     And  in  the 
liberal  and  enlightened  reign  of  the  great  Ca- 
therine, Arsenius  Matseievich,  Archbishop  of 
Eostoff,  having  protested  against  the  confisca- 
tion of  the  goods  of  the  clergy,  was  stript  of 
his  dignity,  ranked  as  a  layman,  and  shut  up 
in  a  fortress,  where  he  died.      Arsenius  be- 
longed to  the  same  school  as  Lopatinski ;  like 
him  he  had  written  against  the  Protestants.  ^ 

Can  it,  after  this,  be  said  that  the  Eussian 
bishops  find  in  the  organisation  of  the  Eussian 
Church  any  guarantee  whatever  against  des- 
potism, or  ought  we  to  wonder  at  their  becom- 
ing mute  and  losing  even  the  last  vestige  of 
independence  ? 


♦  Russian  3fessenger,  June  1863,  p.  463 ;  Filaret,  p.  120. 

f  Idem,  ibidem. 

X  Id.  ibid.  §  Id.  ibid. 


Ibid. 


Let  us  not  be  deceived  ;  in  our  day  forms 
have  changed,  but  as  little,  or  perhaps  less, 
embarrassment  is  felt.      The  idea  of  an  irre- 
movable bishop,  who  could  leave  his  diocese 
only  for  reasons  of  extraordinary  gravity  and 
after  a  judgment  strictly  and  exclusively  can- 
onical, is  an  idea  that  occurs  to  the  mind  of 
no  one.    Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  read 
in  the  journals  that  such  or  such  a  bishop  has 
been  allowed  a  repose^  and  that  for  a  residence 
such  or  such  a  monastery  has  been  assigned 
him.    This  euphemism  scarcely  disguises  a  real 
deposition,  much  less  an  exile  ^nd  a  sort  of  pri- 
son.*  Let  a  bishop  wink  at  too  crying  abuses, 
or  for  any  cause  whatever  draw  on  himself  the 
dissatisfaction  of  the  administration,  he  is  ad- 
mis  a  se  reposer.     Often  he  is  ignorant  of  the 
cause  of  his  disgrace,  is  cited  before  no  tri- 
bunal, is  not  called  on  to  defend  himself,  to 
produce  witnesses,  to  prove  his  innocence,  to 
invoke  the  prescriptions  of  the  law.     He  has 
no  other  course  to  take  than  that  of  submitting 
to  his  fate. 

We  shall  be  told  that  these  measures  are 
taken  under  the  guarantee  and  sanction  of  the 
Synod.    We  shall  speak  by  and  by  of  this  high 

*  The  bishops  admis  a  se  reposer  received  in  1866  the  right  of 
quitting  the  diocese  assigned  them  for  residence,  provided  they 
had  the  authorisation  of  the  diocesan  bishop. 


,  i 


(i 


J 


MMii 


182 


The  Bishops. 


Cliap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


Tlie  Bishops. 


183 


assembly.  But  M.  Katkoff  has  already  told  us 
that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  assimilate  the 
Synod  to  a  provincial  council.  Then  whatever 
the  tribunal,  there  is  no  judgment.  Finally, 
we  refer  to  the  opinion  of  the  bishops  them- 
selves. Do  they  believe  in  finding  a  guaran- 
tee in  the  intervention  of  the  Synod  ?  This 
ends  the  matter.  Not  a  bishop  thinks  any- 
thing of  the  sort. 

Would  to  God  that  a  member  of  the  Eus- 
sian  Episcopate  had  the  courage  to  publish  the 
true  history  of  those  two  great  victims,  Theophy- 
lact  Lopatinski  and  Arsenius  Matseievich !  This 
would  be  the  best  apology  to  give  to  the  world 
on  behalf  of  that  body ;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
the  best  proof  that  it  would  not  be  possible  for 
him  to  recover  his  independence  by  solely  rely- 
ing on  an  ecclesiastical  authority  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  civil  power :  a  truth  perfectly  un- 
derstood by  the  Staroveres,  who  had  taken  care 
to  give  themselves  a  head  residing  out  of  the 
empire.     Herein  they  had  no  design  to  imitate 
the  Catholics ;  the  nature  of  things  and  good 
sense  were  theii'  only  guides.     Let  people  de- 
claim as  they  will  against  a  foreign  power,  in 
it  precisely  consists  the  unique  guarantee  for 
episcopal  independence. 

How  the  Eussian  bishops  are  nominated 
and  how  deposed  we  have  just  seen;  it  remains 


for  us  to  examine  how  they  exercise  their  au- 
thority. 

Until  very  recently  no  bishop  could  leave 
his  diocese  without  permission  from  the  Synod; 
so  that  it  was  impossible  for  two  bishops  to 
visit  each  other,  still  more  so  to  hold  an  assem- 
bly.    More  recently  they  have  been  authorised 
to  absent  themselves  for  eight  days  without 
permission,  each  time,  however,  notifying  the 
fact  to  the  Synod.*     There  is,   doubtless,  an 
ecclesiastical  law  respecting  the  residence  of 
bishops,  but  this  law  does  not  go  so  far  as  to 
interdict  them  all  movement,  and  especially 
not  absences  prompted  by  the  interests  of  their 
dioceses.     Like  all  other  canonical  laws,  this 
has  for  its  end  the  peace,  independence,  and 
liberty  of  the  Church,  and  'tis  revolting  to  see 
it  transformed  into  an  instrument  of  slavery.! 

*  See  the  Annual  TiCport  of  the  chief  procurator  of  the  Synod 

for  the  year  1866. 

t  In  the  Nord  of  Dec.  20th,  1866,  we  read  as  follows :  *  Mgr. 
Wolonczewski,  Catholic  Bishop  of  Samogitia,  is  perfectly  free  to 
fulfil  his  pastoral  duties  within  the  limits  of  his  diocese.  -He  is 
subject  in  his  diocesan  circuits  only  to  the  general  obligation,  com- 
mon to  him  and  all  Russians,  of  having  a  passport  and  a  visa ;  he 
is  farther  obliged,  like  all  bishops,  to  reside  in  his  diocese,  which 
he  cannot  quit  without  superior  authorisation.  We  know  not  if 
this  obligation  of  residence,  so  painful  to  the  prelates  of  the  court 
of  Louis  XIV.,  and  so  often  eluded  by  them,  seems  peculiarly  hard 
to  Mgr.  Wolonczewski,  but  it  will  be  granted  that  there  is  nothing 

unreasonable  in  it.' 

So  speaks  the  Kord,    It  will  be  allowed  that  this  jeering  tone, 
in  a  matter  eo  grave  and  sad,  is  singularly  out  of  place,  and  does 


s 
i    *J 


-a«i»  -<«a»».»*»,» 


am^^^ 


184 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


185 


We  have  seen  that,  according  to  the  new 
regulation  of  the  ecclesiastical  schools,  the  supe- 
riors of  seminaries  can  be  named  by  the  Synod 
on  the  presentation  of  the  diocesan  bishop. 

All  the  j  ournals  have  combined  to  denounce 
this  simple  measure  as  an  exorbitant  invasion 
of  episcopal  authority.  To  us  it  seems  strange 
that  the  bishop  should  not  enjoy  full  independ- 
ence in  the  exercise  of  a  right  which  ought  to 
be  inalienable.  Herein  we  appeal  to  all  the 
Bishops  of  France. 

In  the  memoir  which  Pope  Gregory  XVL  of 
glorious  memory  transmitted  from  hand  to  hand 
to  the  Emperor  Nicholas^  December  l?>th^  1845, 
his  Holiness  cites :  '  Among  the  laws  and  anti- 
Catholic  regulations  which  the  Holy  See  could 
notj  and  cannot^  cease  to  denounce^  is  the  decree 
of  November  80th^  1840,  concerning  seminaries^ 
by  which  these  have  practically  been  withdrawn 
from  the  episcopal  jurisdiction  and  subjected  to 
governmental.,  as  well  for  regulation  of  doctrine 
as  of  discipline. 

little  to  inspire  great  confidence  in  the  reader.  For  this  prohibi- 
tion to  the  bishops  going  outside  their  dioceses,  we  refer  the  Nord 
to  the  Moscow  Gazette;  but  we  should  be  curious  to  know  if,  as  the 
Kord  seems  to  admit,  the  Russian  bishops  need  a  passport  in  order 
to  visit  their  diocese.  If  Mgr.  Wolonczewski  could  visit  his  dio- 
cese only  with  a  visa  of  General  Kauf  mann,  it  is  probable  that  he 
did  not  visit  it  at  all,  at  least  until  this  general  was  displaced.  It 
must  be  avowed  that  the  Nord  has  a  rare  talent  for  confirming 
news  which  it  pretends  to  contradict. 


'  Such  regulations  are  only  developments  or 
corollaries  of  principles  injurious  to  the  rights 
and  divine  authority  of  the  Church,  already  con- 
tained in  the  laws  and  ukases  recorded  among 
the  documents  of  the  allocution  of  July  22nd, 
1842.     It  is  clear,  however,  that  here  is  a  body 
of  laws,  whose  effect  is  to  forbid  to  the  bishops 
the  exercise  of  their  sacred  pastoral  ministry, 
taking  from  them  all  jurisdiction  over  discipline, 
worship,  liturgy,  instruction,  and  the  seminaries ; 
taking  from  them,  in  a  word,  the  government  of 
their  churches,  and  subjecting  them  to  the  con- 
sistories, to  the  ecclesiastical  college,  and  finally 
to  the  ministry,  in  order  to  reduce  them  to  be 
mere  executors  of  the  sovereign's  commands.^ 

'  These  are,  then,  laws  in  open  opposition  to 
Divine  ordination,  since  according  to  Scripture, 
"  Spiritus  Sanctus  posuit  Episcopos  regere  Ec- 
clesiam  Dei"  {the  Holy  Ghost  hath  set  the  bi- 
shops to  rule  the  Church  of  God).  These  are  laws 
subversive  of  ecclesiastical  authority,  of  the  hier- 
archy of  the  Catholic  Church,  in  a  word,  of  its 
whole  constitution.''* 

In  holding  this  firm  and  noble  language, 
Gregory  XVL  probably  never  dreamt  that  he 

*  Esponzmie  doeumentata  sulle  costanti  cure  del  S.P.PwIX. 
a  rivarodei  mali  ehe  soffre  la  Chiesa  CattoU^  nei  domzm.  d. 
rJL  e  di  Polonia,  Eoma,  1866,  pp.  i,  5.    A  French  translat.on 
with  Introduction  by  the  Oratorian  Fath.  Lescoeur,  appeared  in 
Paris  under  the  title  L'Eglise  de  Pologne:  V.  Paling,  1868, 


I 


0m 


186 


Tlie  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


187 


was  pleading  the  cause  of  the  Eussian  bishops. 
'Tis  they,  and  not  the  Catholic  bishops,  who 
have  profited  thereby.  We  hope  that  they 
will  be  grateful  to  him,  and  understand  that 
it  is  not  useless  to  the  Episcopate  to  have  a 
head  capable  of  taking  up  its  defence,  when 
the  bishops   cannot,  or  dare  not,  raise  their 

voices. 

These  very  judicious  observations  of  Gre- 
gory XVI.  apply  not  only  to  the  seminaries; 
they  extend  to  all  the  acts  of  episcopal  admi- 
nistration. If  we  enter  into  detail,  we  shall 
always  reach  the  same  results.  In  Eussia  all 
authority  is  concentrated  in  the  Synod;  the 
bishop  can  do  nothing  of  himself;  his  life  is 
passed  in  sending  reports  to  Petersburg,  re- 
ceiving thence  orders,  executing  them,  and 
notifying  his  obedience.  Instead  of  having,  as 
in  France,  a  council  composed  of  priests  of  his 
choice,  the  Eussian  bishop  is  assisted  by  a  con- 
sistory in  which  sit  priests,  'tis  true,  but  where 
figures  also  a  lay  secretary  nominated  at  Peters- 
burg by  the  Synod  on  the  presentation  of  its 
chief  procurator,  but  in  reality  named  by  him. 
The  secretary  takes  cognisance  of  all  business, 
draws  up  all  documents,  and  conducts  all  corre- 
spondence. He  is  assisted  by  a  chancery,  com- 
posed of  six  or  seven  chief  clerks,  with  their 
sub-clerks  and  writers.     To  this  chancery  are 


referred  all  the  affairs  of  the  clergy  to  the  most 
minute  detail ;  and  it  is  notorious  that  no  busi- 
ness is  transacted  without  drink-money.  Eus- 
sian bureaucracy  has,  in  general,  a  sad  reputa- 
tion for  venality ;  the  bureaucracy  of  the  consis- 
tories is  more  venal  than  any  other.  It  is  a  true 
system  of  drainage  perfectly  organised,  which 
draws  off  from  priests,  deacons,  and  poor  clerks, 
all  their  savings ;  a  hideous  plague  which  feeds 
on  the  Eussian  clergy,  whose  revenues  would 
suffice  them  if  delivered  from  these  ignoble 

spoliations. 

Is^othing  is  sadder  than  this  bureaucratic 
regime  which  strips  the  bishops  of  all  author- 
ity, and  makes  them  the  victims  of  endless 
annoyance ;  and  all  this  in  order  to  procure  a 
livelihood  for  the  wasters  of  the  seminaries,  re- 
duced to  create  for  themselves  a  revenue  by 
their  rapine.      The  creation  of  ecclesiastical 
chanceries  in  all  the  towns  of  the  arrondisse- 
ment  has  been  resolved  on :  its  inutility,  how- 
ever, is  so  perfectly  demonstrated,  that,  last 
year,  the  part  of  the  building  in  the  chancery's 
use  having  become  a  prey  to  fire,  the  chancery 
was  simply  suppressed.    The  employes  begged 
to  be  allowed  to  rebuild  the  burnt  house  at 
their  own  expense ;  so  much  interest  had  they 
in   not  losing  this   engine   for   draining   the 
people.     Thus,  in  whatever  point  of  view  we 


I 


i 


' 


.-.-5^  «.-a  /-J      ,  ,i^a4'«JV*A'*3SWJ*-'»*"*^^!r'-,   - 


■MIMHili 


188 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


189 


look  at  the  Eussian  Church,  we  see  the  plague 
of  Leviteism. 

In  law  authority  belongs  to  the  bishops ;  in 
the  consistory  everything  is  to  be  decided  by 
the  priests.     But  in  practice  '  tis  the  chancery 
or  its  chief,  the  secretary,  who  decides  every- 
thing.    It  can  scarcely  be  otherwise.     In  the 
course  of  a  year  from  12,000  to  15,000  files  of 
papers  pass  the  consistory,  each  claiming  a  de- 
cision according  to  law.     Now  the  laws  eccle- 
siastical, the  statutes  of  the  Synod,  the  decrees 
of  the  bishops,  form  an  enormous  mass  of  docu- 
ments all  unedited;  a  veritable  chaos,  where 
only  men  hoary  in  the  business  escape  being 
lost.     Let  a  member  of  the  -  consistory  feel  in- 
clined to  decide  otherwise  than  the  chancery, 
he  is  plied  with  legal  texts,  and  obliged  to 
sign.     The  bishop  himself  is  in  no  condition 
to  strive  with  the  secretary.     Named  by  the 
chief  procurator  of  the  Synod,  who  alone  can 
change  him,  the  secretary  is  in  direct  corre- 
spondence with  him,  and  renders  him  an  ac- 
count of  the  progress  of  business ;  it  depends, 
then,  on  the  secretary  to  forewarn  the  all-power- 
ful chief  procurator  against  the  bishop.     With 
still  greater  reason  are  the  members  of  the  con- 
sistory obliged  to  bend  to  him.      The  bishop 
does  not  attend  their  sittings;  the  secretary 
brings  him  the  papers,  and  presents  him  with 


a  report ;  as  the  ordinary  intermediary  between 
the  bishop  and  the  consistory,  he  can  by  means 
of  the  bishop  modify  the  decisions  taken  in  the 
assembly,  or  even,  in  transmitting  to  the  latter 
the  orders  of  the  bishop,  give  them  the  colour 
that  suits  him.  Almost  always  the  only  mo- 
tive for  the  secretary's  opinions  is  the  money 
he  has  received  from  interested  parties.*  One 
word  on  the  incomes  of  the  bishops.  In  1866 
the  Moscow  Gazette,  wishing  to  show  that  the 
revenues  of  the   Catholic   bishops   in  Eussia 

*  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Concordat  of  Aug.  3d,  1847,  which 
was  abrogated  by  a  ukase  of  Dec.  4th,  1866,  the  plenipotentiaries 
of  the  two  parties  did  not  succeed  in  coming  to  an  understanding 
on  a  certain  number  of  points.  These  were  embraced  in  a  protocol, 
signed  the  same  day  by  Cardinal  Lambruschini,  Count  Bloudoff, 
and  M.  Bouteneff.  This  protocol  was  published  at  Rome  in  the 
volume  of  documents  relating  to  the  Allocution  of  Oct.  29tb,  1866 
(  Esposizwne  documetitata,  &c.).  We  deem  it  our  duty  to  reproduce 

article  ii. 

*  Tlie  pontifical  plenipotentiary  protested  against  tie  presence 
in  tlie  episcopal  consistories  of  a  lay  secretary  named  hy  the  go- 
vernment, and  uniting  also  the  quality  of  imperial  procurator.  Tlie 
plenipotentiaries  of  his  imperial  majesty  replied,  that  the  rmpei-ial 
government  would  be  ready  to  submit  the  nomination  of  the  secre- 
tary of  the  consistory  to  the  previous  consent  of  the  bishop,  reserv- 
ing to  itself  in  this  case  to  establish  a  procurator  at  the  consistory;  ' 
or  else  tlie  imperial  government  7V0uld  reserve  to  itself  the  nomi- 
nation of  the  secretary  without  the  participation  of  the  bishop,  m 
this  case  reyiouncing  the  appointment  of  a  special  procurator. 

♦  The  pontifical  plenipotentiary  decUred  that  none  of  these  modei 
could  be  admitted  by  the  Holy  See:  {Esposizione,  &c.  p.  19.)      ^ 

After  the  example  of  what  has  been  done  for  the  semmaries, 
this  remonstrance  of  the  Holy  See,  rejected  in  the  case  of  Catbolic 
bishops,  could  it  not  be  admitted  in  favour  of  bishops  of  the 
dominant  Church  ?    The  suppression  of  the  lay  secretary  would 


\. 


)  t^ 


'•  1 


1 


190 


The  Bisliops, 


Chap.  IV. 


\ 


were  higher  than  those  of  the  bishops  of  the 
National  Church,  published  information  which 
we  eagerly  borrow  from  it. 

'  The   Catholic  Archbishop   of  IMohileff,   resident  at 
PetershiTr",   receives   from  the  Treasury  a  provision  of 
1383/  •  that  of  the  other  Catholic  bishops  is  from  8007. 
to  10007.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Metropolitan  of  Peters- 
burg and  Is^ovgorod  touches  54Ur.  ^k- (902O  ;  that  o 
Kieff  4900r.  (816?.);  that  of  Moscow,  1/1  •2r.  IGk.  (2bo/.) 
FHow  came  M.  Katkoff  to  quote  this  figure?  Who  proves 
loo  much,  proves  nothing]  ;   the  Archbishops   of  Kiga, 
Tauris,  Stavropol,  Lithuania,  Mohileff,  Minsk,  and  Po- 
dolia,  each  4000r.  (GGGZ.) ;  those  of  Polotzk  and  Vo  hy- 
nia,  3200r.  (5337.) ;  the  Archbishop  of  Cherson,  2414r. 
85k   (4027.)  the  Bishop  of  Gouria  and  Abkhasia,  loOOr. 
(2507.):  twelve  Archbishops  occupying  important  sees  as 
those  of  Kazan,  Astrakan,  Tver,  Eezan,  9Ur.  85k  (152/.) ; 
and  finally,  twenty-six  bishops,  743r.  40k.  (1247.  .    Sonio 
auxiliary  bishops,  as  he  of  Moscow,  touch  only  358r  98k. 
(607 )  •  that  is,  less  than  many  simple  Catholic  priests. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  orthodox  bishops  receive  some- 
thiu"  additional.  These  additions  are  not  given  for  their 
personal  use;  but  for  the  maintenance  of  their  cathedrals, 
and  of  the  personnel  forming  the  episcopal  house.  ^Nor 
are  these  additions  considerable,  2000  or  3000  roubles. 

result  in  the  destruction  of  bureaucracy  in  the  ecclesiastical  ad- 
niinistration.  It  would  be  not  only  the  bishops,  but  he  whole 
deL  who  would  celebrate  this  reform  with  thanksgiving  and 
extraordinary  rejoicings  ;  see  also  (p.  145  of  the  «^m«  ^^^^  a 
discussion  on  this  point  in  a  committee  composed  o  Counts  Nessel- 
rode  Kisseleffi,  BloudofI,  and  MM.  Lanskoi,  Turkull,  Bouteneff, 
Bomuald  Hub^,  and  Nicolas  Kisseleff.  In  18..G  itjas  sca-^^^^ 
possible  to  find  names  that  would  give  more  g"'^^'^"*!f/°;  ";•;  , 
and  impartiality  ;  but  bureaucratic  routine  was  still  too  strong. 
Let  us  hope  an  advance  has  been  made  since. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


191 


Now  every  cathedral  ought  to  have  at  least  ten  priests  and 
deacons,  who,  having  no  parishes,  receive  a  provision  of 
250r.  or  300r.  each  (427.-507.).  Some  orthodox  bishops  de- 
rive revenues  also  from  the  immovables  belonging  to  the 
bishopric,  and  receive  gifts  from  the  faithful ;  but  these 
not  being  a  charge  on  the  Treasury,  but  voluntary  offer- 
ings, cannot  be  taken  into  account.'  {Moscoic  Gazette,  Nov. 
11th  (23d),  1866,  No.  238.) 

If  we  verify  these  data  by  those  furnished 
by  the  oft-cited  work  on  The  White  and  Black 
Clergy,  the  result  is  not  quite  the  same.    True, 
the  Moscow  Gazette  has  told  us  that  the  La- 
tin Catholic  Archbishop  of  Mohileff  receives 
a  provision  of  8000  roubles,  or  1333?.;  but  it 
has  not  told  us  that  the  Kussian  Archbishop  of 
Varsovia  receives  as  much.     Now  the  diocese 
of  Mohileff,  which  comprehends  within  its  cir- 
cumference both  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  is 
perhaps  the   vastest  diocese   of  the  Catholic 
Church,  whilst  the  flock  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Varsovia  in  1865  did  not  amount  to  30,000 
souls.     The  Archbishop  of  Kiga,  according  to 
our  author,  does  not  receive  4000  roubles,  or 
GG6/.,  as  asserted  by  the  Moscow  Gazette,  but 
6700  roubles,  or  1116?.    The  provision  for  the 
Archbishops  of  Lithuania,  Mohileff,  Minsk,  and 
Podolia  is  quite  4000  roubles,  or  066?.;  but 
they  have  a  supplement  of  2973  roubles,  or  495?., 
making  a  total  of  more  than  1000?..  The  Arch- 
bishops of  Polotzk  and  Yolhynia,  besides  their 


.! 


Bilmii  — 


192 


The  Bishops. 


Cliap.  IV. 


provision  of  3200  roubles,  or  533Z.,  receive  a 
supplement  of  2778  roubles,  or  463/.,  which 
secures  to  them  a  revenue  of  nearly  960/.  The 
other  bishops  have  also  severally  received  sup- 
plements : 


The  Bishop  of  Irkoiitsk 

Olonetz 
Kicheneff 
Kalouga 
Kostroma 
Penza    . 
Kharkoif 
Kherson 


99 

J) 


2000  R. 
2000  R. 
1530R. 
1428R. 
1U2r. 
1142R. 
IOOOr. 
857  R. 


£333 
333 
255 
236 
190 
190 
166 
143 


The  bishop  of  Stavropol  has  ceded  to  the 
state  a  mill   and  fisheries,  and  in  return  re- 
ceives  an  annual  rent  of  3800  roubles,  or  633/., 
which,  added  to  his  provision  of  4000  roubles, 
makes  up  a  revenue  of  more  than  1200/.    Many 
bishops  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  fisheries,  mills, 
meadows,  and  lands,  which  bring  them  more  or 
less  money.     The  emancipation  of  1861  had 
the  efleect  of  securing  to  them,  as  a  compensa- 
tion for  peasants  attached  to  their  service,  a 
very  liberally  calculated  indemnity.     Besides, 
many  bishops  are  at  the  same  time  abbots  or 
superiors  of  monasteries  whose  revenues  they 

deal  with. 

It  was  formerly  the  privilege  of  the  three 
Metropolitans  of  Moscow,  Kiefi',  and  Peters- 


CllAp.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


193 


burg,  who  are  at  the  same  time  necessarily  ar- 
chimandrites of  the  three  laiires  of  St.  Sergius, 
of  the  Crypts,  and  of  Nevsky.  Little  by  little 
other  prelates  also  received  convents  in  com- 
mendam;  in  1842  there  were  eighteen  com- 
mendatories;  in  1858,  thirty-eight;  in  1861, 
forty-five.  Some  have  even  many  convents; 
and  some  of  these  are  very  rich.  Thus,  the 
Metropolitan  of  Moscow,  with  a  ridiculous  pro- 
vision of  1712  roubles,  or  285/.,  enjoys  a  re- 
venue of  more  than  100,000  francs,  or  4000/. 

The  Synod  possesses  a  capital  of  254,543 
roubles,  that  is,  more  than  42,757/.,  the  income 
of  which  is  distributed  among  the  bishops  under 
the  name  of  supply.  It  is  a  custom  with  rich 
families  to  call  the  diocesan  bishop  to  burials ; 
each  of  these  ceremonies  brings  him  in  one  or 
two  hundred  roubles,  i.e.  16/.  or  32/.,  some- 
times more.  "When  the  bishop  goes  to  conse- 
crate a  new  church,  he  receives  an  indemnity 
which  sometimes  rises  to  40/.  or  80/.  The  bi- 
shops have  domestic  chapels,  where  collections 
are  made.  In  one  of  these  chapels  they  collect 
in  a  year  14,000  roubles,  or  2333/.  Miraculous 
images  are  another  source  of  revenue ;  some- 
times abundantly  so.  We  say  nothing  of  illicit 
and  abusive  profits.  Provision,  supplements, 
indemnities,  supplies  accorded  by  the  Synod, 
monastic  revenues,  casualties,— all  these  suffice 

0 


^ 


J 


i*»M*w»^'*«^-'-^*^*  -" 


194 


TJie  Bishops. 


Cliap.  IV. 


to  reassure  us  as  to  the  pretended  poverty  of 
the  Eussian  bishops.  They  would  certainly 
not  exchange  their  revenues  for  those  of  the 
Catholic  bishops,  who  receive  on  an  average  a 
provision  of  5000  to  6000  roubles,  or  800/.  to 
1000/.,  according  to  the  Moscow  Gazette* 

If  we  pass  to  the  moral  authority,  to  the 
influence  of  the  bishops,  we  shall  not  be  wrong 
in  affirming  that  it  is  almost  nil.     As  to  pas- 
toral letters,  they  are  never  heard  of.   The  dis- 
courses they  pronounce  on  solemn  occasions 
no  one  cares  about.     They  can  be  haughty  in 
presence  of  their  clergy,  can  surround  them- 
selves with  a  certain  pomp,  demand  of  their 
inferiors  excessive  marks  of  respect,  and,  alas, 
are  no  bolder  or  more  independent  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  great.      They  know  not  how  to 
unite  Christian  humility  with  sacerdotal  firm- 
ness ;  people  never  hear  them  speak  with  an 
evangelic  liberty.     Their  action  on  minds,  on 
society,  is  nil    They  seem  to  be  bishops  only 
for  the  pui-pose  of  figuring  in  the  pomps  of  the 
divine  office.     The  ceremonies  of  worship  m 
the  oriental  rite  have,  it  is  true,  an  incompar- 
able majesty ;  in  the  Eussian  Church  they  are 

»  It  would  certainly  be  simpler  to  give  the  Eussian  bishops  a 
lar-er  provision  and  suppress  all  these  supplements,  indemnities, 
8up°plies,  convents  in  commendam.  But  these  are  so  many  bonds 
holding  them  in  dependence  on  power.  It  is  easier  to  suppress  a 
supplement  than  to  diminish  the  provision. 


[-l.^jjjj.1..  J  ■■■Harl 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishojjs. 


195 


performed  with  a  rare  perfection.  The  voice 
of  chanters  lends  them  a  marvellous  charm, 
and  all  this,  as  a  whole,  acquires  completeness 
only  by  the  presidency  of  the  bishop.  This  is 
great;  this  is  fine.  But  these  splendours  would 
make  no  less  impression,  if  the  bishop,  on  lay- 
ing aside  his  magnificent  ornaments,  remained 
a  bishop  still ;  if  he  knew  how  to  raise  his 
voice  to  instruct  the  people,  to  denounce  abuses, 
and  to  defend  God's  rights  on  earth  and  those 
of  the  Church,  of  justice,  of  the  humble  and 
lowly. 

We  will  say  of  the  bishops  what  we  have 
said  of  the  priests  and  monks :  it  is  not  the 
men  that  must  be  taken  in  hand,  but  the  insti- 
tutions. We  have  in  our  hands  the  Memoirs, 
by  i\i.  Yakovleff,  of  the  bishops  who  made  part 
of  the  Synod  of  his  time;  but  although  Yakov- 
leff occupied  the  important  post  of  chief  pro- 
curator of  the  Synod,  and  had  it  in  his  power 
to  be  well  informed,  it  is  repugnant  to  us  to 
cite  him.  Let  us  rather  say  that,  in  the  con- 
dition made  for  them,  there  are  to  be  met  with 
among  the  Eussian  bishops  men  distinguished 
by  the  integrity  of  their  manners,  the  gravity 
and  austerity  of  their  lives,  and  by  their  dis- 
interestedness. Who  knows  what  that  day  will 
bring  forth  when  a  crushing  yoke  shall  cease 
to  rest  on  the  Eussian  Church  ?     If  there  is  a 


i 


•mismmmmmm'i 


196 


The  Bishops. 


Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  IV. 


The  Bishops. 


197 


germ  of  health,  'tis  in  the  episcopate.  It  is 
sometimes  spoken  of  as  a  bough  in  which  a 
little  sap  is  left,  and  which  is  destined  again  to 
clothe  itself  with  foliage. 

The  Eussian  bishops  have  the  episcopal 
character,  and  if  it  has  not  always  been  legiti- 
mately transmitted  to  them,  its  validity  has 
never  been  in  doubt.  We  do  not  believe  we 
shall  do  amiss  by  calling  their  attention  to  what 
is  wanting  to  them — viz.  independence.  As 
bishops,  they  do  not  exercise  in  their  plenitude 
their  imprescriptible  rights.  They  must  allow 
us  to  say,  they  are  not  truly  bishops^  but  mitred 

functionaries. 

If  the  projects  announced  by  M.  Katkoff 
are  realised,  all  hopes  are  justifiable.  Yes, 
with  that  eminent  publicist,  we  believe  that  if 
the  ecclesiastical  provinces  were  reestablished, 
if  provincial  councils  assembled  and  deliber- 
ated freely,  if  they  chose  bishops  who  should 
be  irremovable  and  amenable  only  to  their 
peers,  if  the  ancient  discipline  were  renewed 
— yes,  we  will  hope  it, — life  could  reenter  this 
great  body,  numbed  with  centuries  of  lethargic 

sleep. 

What  consequences  would  a  change  so  ra- 
dical bring !  M.  Katkoff  has  perfectly  sighted 
them.  'Tis  not  only  the  Eussian  Church  which 
•would  be  called  to  reconstitute  itself;  all  the 


Churches  of  the  East  must  unite,  as  members 
long  separated,  to  form  a  living  body.  From 
that  moment  provincial  councils,  presided  over 
by  a  metropolitan,  would  no  longer  suffice; 
other  councils,  presided  over  b}  j  niarchs,  are 
needed;  and  rising  higher  still,  an  oecumeiuial 
council,  representing  the  Universal  Cliuidi. 
The  oecumenical  council  must  have  also  a  chief, 
a  president,  ^'here  is  this  chief  of  the  hier- 
archy, around  whom  may  gather  respectfully 
the  patriarchs  themselves?  The  old  Eastern 
Church  knew  him.  'Tis  he  who  received  the 
appeals  of  the  patriarchs  of  Alexandria  and 
Constantinople  by  the  mouths  of  Athanasius 
and  Chiysostom ;  he  who  deposed  these  same 
patriarchs  in  the  persons  of  JSTestorius,  Anthe- 
mius,  and  Sergius  ;*  who,  by  his  legates,  pre- 
sided at  the  oecumenical  councils :  'tis  the  Bi- 
shop of  ancient  Eome,  'tis  the  successor  of  St. 
Peter. 

Let  us  pause.     Our  task  is  not  finished; 
it  remains  for  us  to  speak  of  the  Synod. 

*  See  the  texts  of  the  Russian  liturgy  which  establish  it,  Etudes^ 
1st  series,  vol.  ii.  pp.  75,  76. 


CHAPTEE  Y. 


THE  SYNOD. 


The  Eussian  Church,  we  have  seen,  was  long 
^^overned  by  a  metropolitan  dependent  on  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  The  developments 
of  this  Church,  the  increasing  importance  of 
the  country,  the  precarious  situation  of  the  see 
of  Constantinople  after  the  capture  of  this  city 
by  the  Turks  (1 452),— all  these  considerations, 
and  many  others,  determined  Boris  Godounoff 
to  erect  at  Moscow  a  patriarchal  see.  Favoured 
by  circumstances,  the  new  patriarch  saw  him- 
self at  first  invested  with  very  great  authority; 
but  misunderstanding  was  not  slow  in  cropping 
up  between  him  and  the  tsar.     After  a  long 
and  painful  strife,  a  council,  convoked  at  Mos- 
cow by  the  care  of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  and  at 
which  the  Eastern  patriarchs  assisted,  deposed 
the  patriarch  Nicon.     He  was  replaced,  and 
nothing,  externally  at  least,  was  changed  in 
the  relations  of  the  two  powers.  The  patriarch's 
authority,  however,  found  itself  diminished  by 
the  struggle  in  which  he  had  succumbed.     At 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


199 


first  this  was  deemed  to  be  only  an  eclipse; 
and  had  there  arisen  among  Nicon's  successors 
a  man  of  intelligence  and  character,  the  lost 
ground  had  been  recovered.  Nothing  of  the 
kind  occurred ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  a  man 
was  seen  to  mount  the  throne  of  the  tsars 
endowed  in  the  highest  degree  with  those 
qualities  which  were  essentially  wanting  in 
the  chiefs  of  the  Eussian  Church. 

What  at  bottom  were  the  religious  ideas 
of  Peter  I.  ?  This  question  is  difficult  and  em- 
barrassing. It  is  almost  certain  that  he  dreamt 
of  a  reconciliation  with  Eome,*  but  probably 
in  view  only  of  the  matrimonial  alliances  which 
could  be  contracted  with  the  houses  of  Austria 
and  France.  Besides  sympathising  with  Pro- 
testants when  very  young,  he  was  initiated 
into  a  masonic  lodge  founded  at  Moscow  by 
Lefort.  Hence  it  may  be  concluded  that  he 
was  indifferent  enough  in  matters  of  religion. 
He  did  not  love  the  Eussian  clergy,  the  na- 
tural adversary  of  his  reforms.  Taught  by  the 
quarrels  of  his  father  Alexis  with  Nicon,  and 
wishing  to  be  master  in  everything  and  alwav*^, 
he  resolved  on  abolishing  the  patriarchate,  an  I 
replacing  it  by  a  council  or  college,  to  which 

*  See  on  this  subject  an  interesting  article  of  F.  Gagarin,  en- 
titled La  Sorbomie  de  Park  et  VEgllse  russe^  published  in  the 
Etudes  Reli^ieuses,  Sec.  Sept.  1868.    Paris. 


200 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


201 


lie  gave  the  name  of  Synod.  This  was  a  con- 
siderable innovation,  which  profoundly  modi- 
fied the  hierarchy  and  the  relations  between 
the  Church  and  the  State,  as  well  as  the  rela- 
tions of  the  Eussian  Church  with  those  of  the 
East.  It  thus  gave  new  strength  to  the  schism 
of  the  Staroveres, — to  that  raskol^  born  indeed 
under  his  father,  but  to  which,  contrary  to  his 
intention,  he  communicated  an  extraordinary 
vitality. 

Peter  had  to  use  caution;  he  felt  it,  and 
proceeded  with  a  prudent  slowness  to  the  exe- 
cution of  his  designs.  The  patriarch  Joachim 
having  died  March  17th  (27th),  1690,  a  few 
months  after  the  revolution  which  deprived  the 
Princess  Sophia  of  power,  the  new  tsar  ap- 
pointed as  his  successor  Adrian,  who  showed 
himself  but  little  favourable  to  his  reforms, 
but  otherwise  caused  him  little  embarrassment. 
At  his  death,  in  October  1700,  Peter,  without 
giving  him  a  successor,  confided  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  see  to  Stephen  Yavorski,  Metro- 
politan of  Eezan.  This  provisional  state  lasted 
more  than  twenty  years,  and  the  sight  of  a 
patriarch  in  Eussia  had  almost  been  forgotten, 
when  the  Synod  was  instituted,  January  25th 
(o.s.),  1721. 

An  ecclesiastical  statute,  or  regulation,  de- 
termined the  rights  and  duties  of  this  assembly. 


w 


We  have  before  us  a  Latin  translation  of  it, 
printed  at  Petersburg  in  1785,  under  the  aub- 
pices  of  Prince  Potemkin.  'Tis  from  it  that 
we  must  learn  the  ideas  of  the  tsar. 

The  regulation  is  composed  of  three  parts. 
The  first  treats  of  the  Synod  and  the  motives 
for  its  foundation ;  the  second,  of  the  persons 
subject  to  its  jurisdiction — viz.  the  bishops, 
schools,  preachers,  and  laymen;  the  third,  of 
the  members  of  the  Synod  and  their  functions. 
Then  come  the  rules  imposed  on  the  secular 
clergy,  the  monks,  and  nuns.  It  is  a  veritable 
ecclesiastical  code,  still  in  force. 

The  ukase  is  very  remarkable.  Peter  con- 
gratulates himself  on  the  happy  reforms  ac- 
complished in  the  military  and  civil  orders ;  he 
describes  in  general  terms  the  disorders  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  necessity  of  remedying  them. 
Smitten  with  the  fear  of  the  Sovereign  Judge, 
who  will  demand  of  him  an  account  of  the 
power  intrusted  to  him,  after  the  example  of 
the  kings  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  he 
undertook  the  reform  of  the  ecclesiastical  order. 
In  pursuance  of  this  he  instituted  a  council  or 
Synod,  composed  of  a  president,  two  vice-pre- 
sidents, four  councillors,  and  four  assessors,  to 
whose  jurisdiction  were  assigned  all  the  affairs 
of  the  Church  of  all  the  Eussias,  and  whose 
judgment  should  be  without  appeal:   so  that 


V 


202 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


everybody  must  acquiesce  in  the  Synod's  de- 
crees and  decisions,  and  rest  satisfied  with  its 
definitive  sentence.  Moreover  there  is  no  men- 
tion made  of  the  patriarchs,  nor  of  the  orthodox 
Church  beyond  the  limits  of  the  empire ;  no 
announcement  that  the  tsar  would  at  first  put 
himself  in  accord  with  the  Eastern  Church, 
still  less  that  he  would  admit  the  possibility 
of  an  appeal  to  the  Church  (Ecumenical. 

It  was  only  eight  months  afterwards  that 
Peter  deemed  it  advisable  to  write  to  the  Pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople,  informing  him  of 
what  he  had  done,  and  inviting  him  to  recog- 
nise the  Synod,  with  which  he  would  have  the 
same  relations  as  he  formerly  maintained  with 
the  Patriarch  of  Moscow.  The  patriarch  Jeremy 
displayed  little  eagerness  in  replying,  as  is  seen 
by  his  letter,  dated  September  23d,  1723,  that 
is,  two  years  after  Peter  wrote.  Cuttingly  con- 
trasting with  the  usual  forms  of  this  kind  of 
writing,  it  is  short  and  dry.  Jeremy  confirms 
the  Synod  established  by  the  most  pious  and 
most  gracious  autocrat,  the  sacred  Tsar  of  all 
Muscovy.  He  declares  that  ^  the  holy  and 
sacred  Synod  is,  and  is  called,  his  brother  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  that  it  has  the  power  to  do 
what  the  very  holy  and  apostolical  patriarchal 
sees  do.'  He  exhorts  it  to  preserve  and  keep 
steadily  the  customs  and  canons  of  the  seven 


„„i-^.-. 


Chap.  V. 


Tlie  Synod. 


20S 


holy  and  sacred  oecumenical  councils,  and  all 
that  the  holy  Eastern  Church  observes. 

After  the  ukase  comes  the  formula  of  oath. 
The  members  of  the  Synod  swear  to  show  them- 
selves faitlifid^  upright^  and  obedient  sei^ants 
and  subjects  of  the  Autocrat  of  all  the  Bicssias; 
and  after  him  of  his  legitimate  heirs^  designated  ' 
or  to  be  designated^  in  virtue  of  the  good  pleasure 
and  sovereign  power  of  his  Majesty^  as  also  of 
her  Majesty  the  Tsarina  Catherine.'^  They  en- 
gage, as  far  as  they  shall  be  able,  to  preserve 
and  defend  all  the  rights  and  prerogatives 
belonging  to  the  sovereignty,  authority,  and 

*  Peter  had  in  1689  married  Eudoxia  Lapoukhin,  and  by  her 
had  had  two  sons,  of  whom  one,  the  Tsarovich  Alexis,  had  himself 
left  a  son  by  his  marriage  with  the  Princess  Charlotte  of  Brunswick. 
After  having  been  married  ten  years  Peter  repudiated  Eudoxia, 
and  obliged  her  to  retire  into  a  convent,  without  giving  any  reason 
for  his  conduct.  She  survived  Peter.  Ecclesiastical  authority 
never  pronounced  her  divorce  ;  besides,  had  it  done  so,  the  sent- 
ence must  have  been  considered  as  extorted,  since  there  existed 
no  legitimate  motive  for  breakiug  this  union.  This  Catherine,  to 
whom  the  members  of  the  Synod  took  the  oath  of  fidelity,  and 
who  eventually  succeeded  Peter  I.,  could  not  then  be  the  legiti- 
mate wife  of  the  tsar  ;  she  was  only  his  concubine.  He  had  had 
three  children  by  her  when  he  declared  her  his  wife  (1711).  Later, 
in  1724,  he  crowned  her,  but  no  authentic  proof  exists  that  the 
marriage  was  celebrated.  There  is  no  escape  from  this  dilemma : 
either  Peter  married  her  during  his  lawful  wife's  life,  and  so  com- 
mitted bigamy,  or  he  did  not  marry  her  ;  in  any  case,  his  connec- 
tion with  her  was  adulterous.  Catherine  could  be  in  the  eyes  of 
the  bishops,  and  really  was,  only  a  concubine.  On  seeing  this 
cowardly  complacence  of  the  bishops  in  presence  of  adultery  and 
bigamy,  it  is  impossible  not  to  think  of  Henry  VIII.,  with  whom 
Peter  I.  had  more  than  one  feature  of  resemblance. 


SsS^S"-,.- 


204 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


205 


power  of  his  majesty,  such  as  these  rights  and 
prerogatives  are  defined,  or  shall  hereafter  be 
defined,  in  their  narrowest  signification,  with- 
out sparing  their  own  lives;  in  watching  in 
all  things  for  the  advantage  of  his  majesty;  in 
denouncing,  hindering,  and  combating  every- 
thing that  could  do  him  harm.  Finally,  in 
the  formula  of  oath  is  found  this  significant 
sentence :  'I  confess  and  affirm  on  oath  that  the 
sovereign  judge  of  this  Synod  is  the  monarch  of 
all  the  Russias  himself  our  very  clement  lord.' 

Eeserving  the  reflections  which  crowd  on 
us,  let  us  continue  our  examination  of  the  spi- 
ritual regulations.  In  its  first  part  Peter  aims 
at  justifying  the  creation  of  the  Synod.  He 
invokes  precedents,  cites  the  Sanhedrim  of  the 
Jews  and  the  Areopagus  of  Athens ;  but,  as 
is  seen,  very  little  to  the  purpose.  He  wishes 
to  rely  also  on  the  Word  of  God.  St.  Paul  has 
said  to  the  Corinthians,  'He  is  not  the  God 
of  confusion,  but  of  peace.  .  .  .  Let  all  things 
be  done  decently  and  in  order'  (1  Cor.  xiv.  33 ; 
40).  The  tsar  refers  to  these  two  texts ;  but 
clearly  perceiving  that  they  are  far  from  giving 
formal  sanction  to  his  work,  he  refrains  from 
reproducing  them.  Authorities  failing  him,  he 
tries  argumentation.  Let  us  pass  his  argu- 
ments in  review.  L  Several  men  in  associa- 
tion see  more  clearly  into  business  than  ono 


alone.     2.  The  decisions  of  an  assembly  carry 
more  authority  than  those  of  a  single  man. 
3.  The  Synod  will  have  so  much  more  autho- 
rity, as  it  shall  be  known  that  it  is  established 
by  the   sovereign,    and  depends   on  him:    a 
monarcha  dependet^  suamque  illi  acceptam  fert 
originem.     4.  Different  occupations,  sickness, 
death,  hinder  a  single  man  from  dispatching 
business,  but  do  not  impede  an  assembly.     5. 
An  individual  is  accessible  to  passion,  interest, 
corruption ;  not  so  an  assembly.     6.  A  single 
man  yields  more  readily  to  the  threats  of  the 
powerful  in  the  land.      7.  The  vulgar  know 
not  the  difference  between  the  rights  of  princes 
and  those  of  the  Church :  when  they  see  a  pas- 
tor at  the  head  of  the  Church,  they  are  tempted 
to  compare  him  to  the  prince,  and  even  to 
place  the  spiritual  order  in  the  first  rank.    The 
people  could  then  be  led  to  attach  less  import- 
ance to  the  orders  of  a  monarch  than  to  those 
of  a  pontiff.     With  the  Synod  there  would  be 
no  such  risk.     Its  president,  deprived  of  all 
prerogatives,  stript  of  all  pomp,  can  have  no 
high  opinion  of  himself,  and  escapes  the  at- 
tempts  of  pride   and   flattery.      The   people, 
knowing  that  this   mode  of  government  has 
been  established  by  order  of  the  prince  man- 
dato  mo7iarchcej  will  dwell  in  peace,  being  able 
to  count  on  no  support  from  the  spiritual  aii» 


/ 


206 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


thority.  8.  A  patriarch  could  be  judged  only 
by  an  oecumenical  council,  wbicli  would  pre- 
sent many  inconveniences;  whilst  each  mem- 
ber of  the  Synod  and  the  president  himself  arc 
amenable  to  the  Synod.*  9.  It  is  a  method 
of  forming  for  the  government  of  the  dioceses 
men  destined  to  the  episcopate,  and  the  Synod 
can  be  considered  as  a  nursery  for  bishops,  f 

Such  are  the  reasons  which  Peter  I.  deemed 
proper  to  give  to  the  public.  We  are  tempted 
to  regard  them  as  childish.  At  bottom  there 
are  but  two :  the  government  of  several  is  bet- 
ter than  that  of  one  ;  if  the  Church  had  a  head, 
Peter  would  be  uneasy  in  the  possession  of 
his  power  over  her.  The  former  of  these  two 
reasons,  taken  strictly,  would  lead  to  nothing 
less  than  the  condemnation  of  monarchical  go- 
vernment ;  and  such  certainly  was  not  the 
thought  of  Peter,  who,  not  having  wished  for 
a  power  shared  by  his  brother  and  sister,  was 

*  This  abundantly  proves  that  in  recognising  the  emperor  as 
judge  of  the  Synod,  the  members  of  this  assembly  do  not  speak 
of  themselves  individually,  but  of  the  Synod  as  a  constituted  body. 

f  Bishops  are  now  no  longer  drawn  from  the  Synod.  All  the 
members  of  this  assembly  are  clothed  with  the  episcopal  character, 
and  placed  at  thi  head  of  a  diocese,  except  two  or  three  married 
priests  who  cannot  become  bishops.  But  at  the  epoch  of  its  found- 
ation the  Synod  counted  only  three  bishops,  the  president  and 
two  vice-presidents.  The  four  councillors  and  four  assessors  were 
archimanfirites  and  hegoumens,  who  naturally  found  themselves 
on  the  hurh-road  to  the  episcopate.  Peter  wi^Ik  d  t  >  iiavi  thciii 
seen  at  work  t  efore  conferring  on  them  the  episcopal  character. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


207 


quite  as  decided  to  yield  none  of  it  to  an  as- 
sembly. We  nevertheless  believe  in  his  sin- 
cerity. Power  for  him  was  not  in  question; 
it  belonged  to  him,  and  only  to  hiiii.  such  was 
his  conviction.  The  question  was  only  to  secure 
iTi^^fruments  for  exercising  it.  In  this  bcnse,  it 
was  in  very  good  faith  that  he  preferred  col- 
lective government  to  that  of  a  single  person . 
Thus,  instead  of  ministers,  he  had  established 
colleges  for  foreign  affairs,  for  war,  for  finance. 
&c.  &c.,  and  concentrated  the  whole  adminis- 
tration in  the  senate. 

When  we  cross  the  Place  d' Isaac,  and  stop 
near  the  statue  of  Peter  I.,  with  the  ^<  \a 
flowing  on  our  right,  we  see  rise  before  u 


s  the 


V{''^   ('( 


lifices  in  which  assemble  ro>\ 


■IP  I 


.   1  \      I  1 1 U 


byi 


lud  and  the  Senate.  This  is  the  liiattrial 
realisation  of  Peter's  thought.  Tho  two  pa- 
laces are  in  the  same  line,  have  the  same  aspect, 
and  form  a  symmetrir^al  whole.  Peter  wished 
lu  govern  the  Church  and  the  State  by  means 
nf  the  Synod  an  1  the  ^^  late;  he  caused  him- 
self to  be  equally  represented  iii  both  a^  «  ni- 
i  lies,  by  a  procurator  assigned  to  eaah.  Liia 
\]\i)^k^  structures,  which  liaw  liaeii  th'-lr-jvad 
hv  the  hand  of  time  and  rchuilt  ou  a  ditfrreut 
or£rani?ation  uf  iai->ia  is  iiu 


niali     TfiO   r>ropnm«nnoTi    ta     ii\\<>iii    i>    au    iOlllTCr 
■what   It   was  a   hundred   auj.l   hflv   ^aiirs  a;i2:c 


■V] 


(;(jlUii: 


i)\  the  empire  has  I'elegated  the 


t 


208 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Senate  to  the  second  plan,  ministers  liaye  re- 
placed the  colleges;  the  Synod  alone  has  re- 
mained standing  in  its  isolation  as  a  monument 
of  the  past,  surviving  the  rest  of  the  edifice  of 
which  it  once  formed  a  part.  Under  Peter's 
reign  it  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  other 
creations  of  the  tsar  reformer. 

"We  think  we  have  sufficiently  unfolded 
Peter's  idea,  by  saying  that  the  government  of 
several  is  better  than  that  of  one.  The  other 
argument,  that  it  is  more  difficult  for  power 
to  hold  the  Church  in  its  hand  when  it  has  a 
single  chief,  needs  no  explication ;  'tis  the 
thought  of  the  autocrat  in  all  its  clearness.  He 
fully  reckoned  on  remaining  sole  master ;  we 
shall  see  him  later  preeminently  so. 

In  the  other  parts  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Ee- 
gulation  the  lion-grip  made  itself  less  felt ;  it 
is  perceptible  that  Prokopovich  held  the  pen, 
but  under  his  master's  eye.  This  compila- 
tion has  a  double  character ;  it  is  puerile  and 
malignant. 

First  come  ten  pages  in  quarto,  the  points 
of  which  can  be  stated  in  few  words.  To  make 
war  on  superstition :  meaning  by  this  certain 
prayers,  lives  of  saints,  images,  relics,  and  mir- 
acles, which  must  be  submitted  to  rigorous  cri- 
ticism. Then  it  is  said  that  it  would  be  very 
useful  to  make  a  little  book,  or  catechism,  con- 


■\ 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


209 


taining  the  exposition  of  the  Symbol  and  De- 
calogue, with  selected  homilies.*  The  bishops 
shall  read  the  canons,  shall  set  themselves  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  degrees  of  consan- 
guinity and  affinity,  from  which  arise  hinder- 
ances  to  marriage,  and  in  doubtful  cases  they 
will  address  themselves  to  the  Synod.  The 
Synod  will  see  whether  it  be  proper  to  super- 
sede them  because  of  old  age  or  sickness.  They 
shall  build  no  useless  churches,  shall  distrust 
miraculous  images,  and  combat  superstitions. 
They  shall  take  care  to  found  schools  or  semi- 
naries, and  to  ordain  as  priests  only  those  who 
have  been  given  to  study.  If  the  seminarists 
are  monks,  they  ought  to  be  named  archiman- 
drites or  hegoumens  (abbots  or  priors),  unless 
they  render  themselves  infamous  by  some  great 
crime  (p.  33,  n.  10).  The  bishops  shall  report 
to  the  Synod  the  state  of  their  revenues  and  of 
those  of  the  monasteries ;  they  shall  observe 
economy  and  humility;  shall  pronounce  no 
excommunication  without  referring  it  to  the 
Synod ;  shall  visit  their  dioceses  every  year  or 
every  two  years,  receive  any  accusations  made 
against  the  clergy;  assure  themselves  of  the 
state  of  the  monasteries,  much  more  by  the 
testimony  of  persons  outside  them  than  by  that 

*  See,  for  the  catechisms  of  the  Russian  Church,  Tondini's 
Tlie  Pope  of  Rome  and  the  Po;pes^  &;c.  pp.  81-94, 

P 


210 


Tlie  Synod, 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


211 


of  the  monks.  Stress  is  laid  on  the  necessity 
of  fighting  against  superstition,  and  on  the  de- 
pendence of  the  bishops  on  the  Synod. 

In  the  chapter  on  schools  the  Eussian  army 
is  given  as  a  model,  ^  which  was  in  so  sad  a 
state  before  our  very  august  and  very  puissant 
monarch  Peter  I.  introduced  discipline  into  it.' 
In  order  to  prove  the  necessity  of  science,  it  is 
said  that  during  the  first  four  centuries  the 
bishops  had  a  horror  of  arrogance;  but  that 
later  they  began  to  get  proud,  especially  those 
of  Constantinople  and  Eome.  From  the  year 
500  to  1400  all  Europe  was  plunged  in  dark- 
ness. 

Then  came  the  organisation  of  studies  and 
of  seminaries ;  the  rules  for  preachers  ;  a  dis- 
tinction between  laity  and  clergy  obscure 
enough;  the  Kascolniks,  and  how  to  treat  them, 
&c.  The  third  part  is  devoted  to  the  Synod 
itself.  This  assembly  shall  watch  that  all  bi- 
shops, priests,  monks,  laymen,  discharge  their 
duties,  and  shall  chastise  those  who  do  not. 
Every  one  can  address  the  Synod  by  writing. 
No  theological  work  can  be  printed  without 
its  permission.  When  it  is  reported  that  a 
dead  body  has  been  preserved  from  corruption, 
or  a  miracle  or  vision  been  witnessed,  the 
Synod  makes  inquiry.  It  resolves  cases  of 
conscience,  examines  bishops,  satisfies  itself  of 


their  being  neither  superstitious  nor  impostors, 
informs  itself  as  to  the  sources  from  which 
they  can  get  money ;  it  also  judges  them,  and 
decides  matrimonial  causes  and  cases  of  divorce, 
and  watches  over  the  use  of  ecclesiastical  pro- 
perty. The  wills  of  important  personages,  in 
cases  of  doubt  as  to  their  validity,  are  exa- 
mined by  the  Synod  and  by  the  College  of 
Justice  (Ministry  of  Justice). 

Finally,  the  Eegulation  treats  of  mendicity. 
"We  do  not  find  fault  with  their  seeking  to  ex- 
tirpate it  by  giving  to  the  able-bodied  poor  the 
means  of  earning  their  living,  and  coming  to 
the  help  of  the  rest ;  but  we  cannot  without 
oppression  of  heart  read  these  pages,  every  line 
of  which  breathes  hatred  of  the  poor.  To  give 
alms  to  an  able-bodied  pauper  is  to  render  one- 
self accessory  to  his  sin.  Mendicants  are  the 
greatest  of  scoundrels.*  How  can  we  help  re- 
calling the  lesson  in  the  Gospel  ?  When  John 
the  Baptist,  desiring  to  assure  himself  that 
Jesus  was  indeed  the  Messiah,  sent  some  of  his 
disciples  to  question  Him,  our  Lord,  in  order 
to  give  the  Forerunner  proof  that  the  Messiah 
was  come,  cites  His  own  works,  and  says :  To 
the  poor  the  Gospel  is  preached.  On  reading 
the  '  Spiritual  Eegulation,'  and  especially  this 

*  *  Re  quidem  vera,  non  est  hominum  genus  magis  sceleratum 
profligatumque  magis'  (p.  98). 


212 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  v. 


Chap.  v. 


The  Synod. 


213 


passage,  which  distils  the  venom  of  hatred 
against  the  poor,  without  meeting  therein  a 
word  of  compassion  or  charity,  there  can  be  no 
longer  any  doubt  that  it  is  not  the  Church  that 
there  speaks.  Nor  are  the  Eussian  people 
therein  deceived,  but  in  spite  of  the  Synod 
continue  to  give  alms. 

In  the  supplement,  among  the  rules  given 
to  the  priests,  we  shall  notice  the  11th  and 
1 2th,  which  indicate  in  what  cases  the  confes- 
sor mu-^t  reveal  the  secrets  of  the  confessional.  If 
there  be  a  plot  against  the  emperor  or  the  em- 
pire, or  any  machination  against  the  honour  or 
life  of  the  emperor  or  his  majesty's  family,  and 
the  penitent  be  unwilling  to  abandon  it;   or 
still  farther,  if  a  false  miracle  be  admitted  as 
true,  and  the  author  of  the  imposture  come  to 
confess  it,  without,  however,  wishing  to  reveal 
it, — in  these  cases  the  confessor  is  bound  to 
reveal  the  secret  of  the  confessed  and  to  de- 
nounce the  guilty.  The  author  of  these  strange 
rules  says,  in  order  to  justify  them,  that  false 
mii-acles  expose  the  orthodox  religion  to  the 
contempt  of  the  heterodox.     Alas !    the  pre- 
tended miracle  of  the  Sacred  Fire,  which  is 
performed  every  year  at  Jerusalem,  and  all  the 
miracles  that  can  be  attributed  to  Metrophanes 
of  Yoronege,  will  never  do  so  much  harm  to 
the  Church  as  these  llth  and  12th  rules  in 


ij^- 


the  '  Spiritual  Eegulation.'  Here  again  one 
cannot  be  deceived :  it  is  not  the  voice  of  the 
Chnrchj  it  is  the  invasion  of  the  sanctuary  by- 
bureaucracy  ;  but  it  is  mournfully  affecting  to 
see  bishops  countersigning  orders  like  these.* 
Then  come  the  rules  for  the  monks.  We 
shall  refer  to  only  one,  the  36  th,  which  forbids 
the  monk  to  have  a  pen,  ilsils  calami  scriptoriiy 
quantum  ad  extracta  ex  libris  litterasque  sua- 
sorias  attinet^  monachis  denegatur.  The  monk 
who  shall  have  written  without  the  abbot's 
permission  shall  undergo  a  severe  corporal 
punishment,  sub  gravi  corporalis  castigationis 
poena.  It  is  equally  forbidden  to  have  ink  and 
paper.  Nothing  is  fraught  with  more  danger 
to  the  monastic  life  than  the  rage  for  writing, 

*  History  teaches  us  that  the  Russian  clergy,  both  before  and 
after  the  '  Spiritual  Kegulation,'  did  not  much  scruple  to  reveal 
the  secrets  of  the  confessional.  During  the  trial  of  the  Tsarevich 
Alexis,  his  confessor,  Jaques  Ignatieff,  when  put  to  the  torture, 
June  IDth,  1718,  declared  that  the  tsarevich  had  told  him  in  con- 
fession that  he  had  wished  his  father's  death.  On  Oct.  12th,  1754, 
the  priest  Basil  Sergueeff  declared  to  the  police  that  Barbe  Jou- 
koff  had  in  confesion  avowed  to  him  that  his  mother  had  excited 
him  to  the  murder  of  his  mother-in-law.  {Russian  Messenger^  Dec 
1860,  p.  479.)  The  priest  Gerbonovsky  declared  that  the  prisoner 
Striekha  had  in  confession  avowed  to  him  such  and  such  things. 
(JloXb  Oxh  (  Under  Judgment')^  published  at  London,  August  1st, 
1861.)  Demetrius,  Bishop  of  Rostoff  (1651-1709),  whom  the  Rus- 
sian Church  canonised,  was  obliged  to  rise  up  against  the  priests 
who  reported  what  had  been  told  them  in  confession.  (Solovieff, 
History  of  Ilussia,  vol.  xv.  p.  126.)  These  examples  show  that,  in 
practice,  little  trouble  was  taken  by  the  priests  to  set  themselves 
above  the  restrictions  indicated  by  the  *  Spiritual  Regulation.' 


234 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


ina7iis  etfrivola  scriptmiendi  prurigo.  If,  how- 
ever, there  are  legitimate  reasons  for  writing, 
and  the  abbot  permit  it,  it  shall  be  done  in  the 
refectory,  and  at  the  common  inkstand.     Any 
one  daring  to  act  otherwise  will  be  severely 
punished,  contrariim  ausuris  severa  poena  in- 
tentabitur.     This  is  a  sad  spectacle,  but  one 
full  of  instruction.      This  despot,  this  victor, 
this  conqueror,  has  drowned  in  blood  all  re- 
sistance, not  sparing  even  his  own  son ;  he  has 
moulded  his  people   like  soft   wax,    recking 
naught  of  its  traditions,  customs,  preferences  ; 
he  has  subjected  the  Church  herself  to  his  will' 
and  Europe  has  proclaimed  him  great:  yes 
this  man,  who  trembles  in  his  solitary  musings' 
see,  he  has  caught  a  glimpse  of  one  of  those 
poor  monks,  who,  shut  up  in  their  little  cells, 
were  there  recording  from  day  to  day  the  his- 
tory of  their  country.     What  would  become  of 
him,  if  in  some  corner  of  his  immense  empire 
one  were  to  write  the  chronicles  of  Peter's 
reign  ?     He  who  had  faced  all  the  artillery  of 
Charles  XII.,  what  fears  he  ?   A  book,  a  pam- 
phlet, a  journal,  the  liberty  of  the  press  ?  ISTo ; 
he  is  afraid  of  a  pen  in  a  monk's  cell,  and  with 
reason ;  for  the  pen  that  defends  the  rights  of 
truth  and  the  freedom  of  the  Church  is  stronger 
than  he.     But  what  also  must  be  thought  of 
the  freedom  and  independence  of  the  Eussian 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


215 


Church  under  the  regime  which  Peter  inaugu- 
rated ? 

Let  us  cite  two  more  rules  relating  to 
monks.  The  apostle  had  written  to  Timothy, 
'  Let  not  a  icidotv  be  chosen  who  is  less  than 
sixty  years  old'  (1  Tim.  v.  9) ;  the  Synod  made 
it  the  rule  of  monasteries  that  virgins  conse- 
crated to  God  should  not  take  their  vows  before 
the  age  of  sixty,  and  he  quotes  the  authority  of 
St.  Paul.  The  Synod,  however,  is  appropriately 
reminded  that  Peter's  lawful  wife  is  in  a  con- 
vent, and  that  the  tsar  might  take  it  into  his 
head  to  send  his  second  there — her  to  whom 
he  had  just  taken  an  oath  of  fidelity — before 
she  should  reach  the  age  of  sixty.  The  Holy 
Synod  at  once  reserves  to  itself  the  power  of 
making  exceptions  ! 

Let  us  pass  to  the  rule  following  the  43d, 
which  well  deserves  a  literal  translation.  '  If 
any  young  virgin  still  desire  to  embrace  the 
monastic  life,  in  order  to  keep  her  virginity 
perpetually,  it  is  necessary 'to  begin  by  care- 
fully examining  the  circumstances.  Does  she 
not  wish  to  deceive  ?  Is  she  not  reduced  to  it 
by  reverses  of  fortune  ?  Is  she  not  led  away 
by  over-excitement  ?  *     Is  it  not  the  case  of  a 

*  We  are  not  quite  certain  of  having  exactly  understood  the 
sense  of  the  text.  The  Latin  is  Vel  affectibus  jplus  justo  indulgeat. 
Of  what  excessive  affections  does  it  speak?  We  have  supposed  it 
to  mean  an  exalted  mind. 


216 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


person  profoundly  versed  in  the  art  of  dissimu- 
lation, who  is  feigning  a  wish  to  take  the  vow 
of  chastity  ?  If  the  examination  is  satisfactory, 
she  shall  be  sent  into  a  convent  distinguished 
for  the  virtue  of  its  nuns,  and  whose  privacy 
shall  be  carefulJy  guarded  ;  she  shall  be  placed 
at  the  service  of  a  nun  of  irreproachable  con- 
duct, and  shall  remain  without  assuming  the 
habit  until  the  age  of  sixty,  or  fifty  at  the  least. 
If  before  this  age   the  desire  to  be  married 
seize  her,  she  shall  be  allowed  to  gratify  it.' 
'  How  perceptible   that  this  was  written   by 
those  who  had  no  faith  in  chastity,  who  mocked 
at  it  and  hated  it!      Prokopovich  doubtless 
here  still  wielded  the  pen ;  but  among  the  sig- 
natures, beside  his  own,   are  found  those  of 
three  bishops,  seven  monks,  and  two  priests. 
We  love  to  think  that  several  among  them,  as 
Stephen  Yavorski  and  Theophylact  Lopatinski, 
signed  through  want  of  energy,  without  shar^ 
ing  the  views  of  their  colleagues. 

Such  is  the  '  Spiritual  Eegulation.'*  It  pre- 
scribes to  confessors  betrayal,  forbids  monks 
the  use  of  the  pen,  insults  the  chastity  of  those 
virgins  who  wish  to  consecrate  their  virginity 

*  The  above  abstraTtsli^^iTthi-^nS^  evince 

how  acceptable  to  all  interested  in  Russian  literature  will  be  the 
translation  of  that  document  from  the  original  Russian,  now  being 
prepared,  with  introduction  and  notes,  by  t^arnabite  Fath.  Ton- 
dini,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Paris  BibliograpWCSTSociety.  {Tr  ) 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


217 


(■ 


to  God;  it  has  no  bowels  of  compassion  for  the 
poor,  and  we  look  in  vain  for  a  single  word 
breathing  love  to  God  or  our  neighbour  ;  piety 
is  as  hateful  to  it  as  the  independence  of  the 

Church;  it  dejir^s--eot-T)ti!5tor-&~Jmt^^ 
agents — the  blind  instruments  of  power.  If 
we  Catholics,  quite  disinterested  in  all  this, 
feel  it  difficult  to  restrain  our  indignation, 
what  ought  to  be  the  sentiment  of  men  obliged 
to  avow  themselves  members  of  a  Church  in 
which  this  strange  code  has  for  150  years  had 
the  force  of  law,  and   is   unabrogated   even 

now? 

As  to  Synodal  administration,  it  is  a  very 
complicated  mechanism,  which  we  can  under- 
stand only  by  passing  successively  in  review 
th^_Synodr44elfy it«  chief-3)rocurator,  audjthe 

bureaux. 

Peter's  idea,  we  have  seen,  was  that  the 
Synod  should  consist  of  a  bishop-president, 
two  vice-presidents,  equally  bishops ;  four 
councillors  and  four  assessors,  taken  from  the 
clergy  of  the  second  order,  regular  and  secular. 
To-day  this  is  changed ;  no  more  president  or 
vice-presidents,  and  all  the  members  of  the 
Synod  are  bishops,  except  two  or  three  secular 
priests.  One  of  these  is  the  emperor's  chap- 
lain and  confessor ;  the  other  is  the  chief  chap- 
lain of  the  army  and  navy.     Admitted  to  the 


\ 


218 


The  Synod, 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


hi 


bosom  of  the  Synod,  the  bishops  retain  the 
administration  of  theii^  dioceses,  however  dis- 
tant  they  may  be  from  St.  Petersburg. 

In  this  assembly  the  members  are  distin- 
guished into  perpetual  and  temporary,  the 
latter  being  called  to  take  part  in  the  delibera- 
tions during  a  determinate  period  of  time. 

^  The  metropolitans  and  the  emperor's  chap- 
lain  are  always  perpetual  members,  a  distinc- 
tion  sometimes  conferred  on  other  bishops  and 
on  the  chaplain-in-chief  to  the  forces.      One 
would  from  this  be  tempted  to  conclude  that 
the  perpetual  members  are  irremovable,  but 
'tis  not  so ;  the  bishops  can  receive  orders  to 
return  to  their  dioceses,  and  then,  while  re- 
taming  the  title  of  members  of  the  Synod,  they 
cease  to  take  part  in  its  sittings.     There  is, 
however,   a  certain  irremovability  in  fact  for 
the  Metropolitan  of  Petersburg  and  for  the  two 
chaplains;  but  in  an  emergency  these  could 
always  be  got  rid  of;  and  as  to  the  Metropoli- 
tan of  Petersburg,  it  would  not  be  impossible 
to  transfer  him  to  another  see,  or  invite  him 
to  take  repose. 

'      ^^^  Synod,  then,  is  composed  just  as  the 
^pmperor  pleases,  ancT^cannot  become  an  ele- 
ments opposition.     In  point  of  independence 
there  is  no  comparison  between  an  assembly  of 
this  kind  and  an  irremovable  patriarch.     It  is 


Tlie  Synod. 


219 


also  not  a  council.  We  are  well  aware  that 
M.  Wassilieff,  in  his  letter  to  Mgr.  the  Bishop 
of  Nantes,  has  had  the  courage  to  say  that  the 
Synod  '  is  only  the  council  of  the  Church  of 
Eussia'  (p.  33).  This  affirmation  does  not 
bear  examination ;  we  confine  ourselves  to  op- 
posing to  it  the  words  of  M.  Katkofi*,  already 
quoted  above.  ^  The  Holy  Synod  cannot  take 
the  place  of  councils,  because  all  the  bishops 
do  not  take  part  in  its  deliberations ;  whilst  all 
the  bishops  must  absolutely  sit  in  the  provin- 
cial councils,  such  as  were  instituted  by  the 
Apostles  and  by  the  oecumenical  councils.' 
{Moscow  Gazette^  1866,  No.  210.)  Between 
the  council  of  the  Eussian  Church  and  the 
Synod  there  is  the  same  difference  as  between 
the  English  House  of  Peers  and  a  commission 
composed  of  half  a  dozen  lords  chosen  by  the 
Queen.  The  minister  who  should  bethink  him- 
self of  maintaining  that  it  is  indifierent  whether 
we  submit  a  law  to  the  House  of  Peers  or  to 
such  a  commission  would  be  guilty  of  an  enor- 
mous constitutional  heresy.  M.  Wassilieff's 
assertion  is  no  less  strange ;  and,  for  our  part, 
we  believe  the  Synod  itself  but  little  disposed 
to  share  the  opinion  of  the  Eussian  embassy's 
ex-chaplain  at  Paris. 

Not  content  with  this  dependence,  Peter 
took  another  guarantee,  in  the  person  of  the 


220 


The  Synod, 


i 


\\i 


Chap.  V. 

Synod's  chief  procurator.    This  personage  '  has 
to  sit  m  the  assembly,  and  attentively  watch 
that  the  Synod  acquits  itself  of  its  functions 
aiid  that  m  all  affairs  subjected  to  its  delibera- 
tions It  proceed  with  truth,  zeal,  order,  and 
without  loss  of  time,  conformably  to  the  requla- 
tions  and  ukases.     He  must  also  attentively 
watch  that  the  Synod  acts  with  uprightness 
and  without  hypocrisy '  (art.  1).     '  He  is  to 
be  considered  as  our  own  eye,  and  as  the  pro- 
tector  of  state  affairs;  hence  he  should  act  with 
hde  ity,  for  he  in  the  first  place  will  have  to 
render  an  account'  (art.  2).     To  find  a  man 
capable  of  discharging  these  functions,  Peter 
recommends  the  selection  from  among  the  offi- 
cers  of  a  good  man  possessing  boldness  (ukase 
May  nth,  1722).     No  decision  is  put  in  force 
without  the  chief  procurator's  consent.     <  If  he 
remark  that  the  Synod  is  not  acting  with  up- 
rightness, but  with  hypocrisy,  he  is  obliged  in- 
stantly to  point  out  to  the  Synod,  clearly  and 
with  all  necessary  explanation,   in  what  the 
Synod,  or  a  part  of  it,  are  not  acting  properly, 
that  they  may  correct  it.     And  if  they  do  not 
obey,  he  must  thereupon  protest,  stop  the  de- 
liberation on  the  matter,  and  report  it  to  us  at 
once,  if  It  be  of  great  importance ;  otherwise 
when  ^vre  come  to  the  Synod,  or  in  the  course 
ol  the  month  or  of  the  week '  (Instr.  art  2) 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


221 


Many  matters  subject  to  the  deliberation  of 
the  Synod  must  besides  be  referred  to  the  em- 
peror. In  this  case  the  chief  procurator  draws 
up  the  report,  presents  it,  accompanying  it 
with  the  needful  explanation,  and  transmits 
the  supreme  decision  to  the  Synod. 

The  chief  procurator  is,  then,  a  real  inter- 
mediary minister  between  the  emperor  and  the ' 
Synod.  He  has  under  his  orders :  1st,  his 
own  chancery;  2d,  that  of  the  Synod  ;  3d,  the 
central  direction  of  the  ecclesiastical  schools ; 
4th,  the  directory  charged  with  administration 
and  revenue.  The  personnel  of  all  these  ofl&- 
ces  is  placed  under  his  control ;  nominations, 
promotions,  dismissions,  all  depend  on  him. 
The  central  direction  of  the  ecclesiastical  schools 
is  a  veritable  ministry  of  public  instruction  for 
the  clergy.  The  directory  of  administration 
and  revenue  is  chiefly  occupied  with  finance, 
with  what  may  be  called  the  clergy-chest.  The 
authority  exercised  by  the  chief  procurator  over 
all  these  administrations  naturally  gives  him 
great  influence  on  the  progress  of  affairs  sub- 
mitted to  the  Synod,  as  also  over  diocesan 
authorities.  We  have  seen  that  he  was  in  di- 
rect correspondence  with  the  consistory  secre- 
taries, who,  on  a  smaller  theatre,  play  at  these 
ecclesiastical  assemblies  the  same  part  that  the 
chief  procurator  does  at  the  Synod.     Farther, 


222 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


all  these  administrations  are  obliged  to  send 
to  the  Synod  or  to  the  chief  procurator  a  very 
large  number  of  reports,  accounts,  and  papers 
of  all  sorts.  A  delay  in  sending  these  papers, 
an  irregularity  in  digesting  them,  expose  the 
diocesan  authorities  to  receive  from  the  chief 
procurator  demands  for  explanation  or  rectifi- 
cation, reproaches,  sometimes  even  reprimands. 
It  is  easy  to  understand  how  by  these  thousand 
bonds  the  diocesan  authorities  find  themselves 
in  dependence  on  him. 

But  'tis  necessary  that  we  enter  into  some 
detail,  in  order  to  clearly  show  how  bureau- 
cracy has  invaded  the  Church  and  entwined 
her  in  its  meshes. 

Papers  of  every  kind  addressed  to  the  Sy- 
nod go  to  the  chancery.  They  are  read,  sum- 
marised, reported  on  in  connection  with  the 
articles  of  law  applying  to  them.  On  the  Sy- 
nod's assembling,  extracts  from  the  report  are 
read,  and  pertinent  legal  texts.  Thereupon 
begins  the  discussion,  which  terminates  in  the 
adoption  of  a  resolution  in  such  or  such  a  sense : 
this  resolution  is  put  in  writing,  and  signed  by 
all  the  members.  They  are  besides  obliged  to 
sign  the  minutes  of  the  sittings,  and  a  great 
number  of  other  papers.  If  we  calculate  the 
number  of  matters  submitted  every  year  to  the 
decision  of  the  Synod,  and  the  number  of  hours 


The  SynocL 


223 


it  is  in  session,  we  reach  the  conclusion  that  it 
can  on  an  average  give  but  five  minutes  to  each 
matter.     Now  there  are  matters  so  very  com- 
plicated as  to  demand  the  perusal   of  many 
hundreds  of  pages,  and  give  rise  to  long  dis- 
cussions.    Here,  then,  is  a  physical  impossi- 
bility.    In  the  majority  of  cases  discussion  is 
suppressed,  the  sentence  being  drawn  up  be- 
forehand by  the  chancery,  and  the  members 
required  only  to  sign  it.     This  process,  how- 
ever, is  still  too  long ;  the  chancery  is  empow- 
ered to  set  aside  all  afiairs  of  little  moment. 
Of  these  not  even  the  report  is  read,  the  pa- 
pers already  drawn  up  being  merely  presented 
to  the   members  of  the  Synod  for  signature. 
Their  signatures  are  even  frequently  gathered 
one  after  another  at  their  homes.      To  read 
these  papers,  one  would  suppose  that  all  were 
the  work  of  the  Synod,  and  transacted  during 
its  sessions.     From  this  state  of  things  it  is 
evident  that  the  greater  part  of  the  business 
is  decided  on  in  the  government  offices  by  the 
subordinate  officials.     It  even  sometimes  hap- 
pens that  the  chancery  takes  upon  itself  to 
entirely  change  a  decision  which  has  been  ar- 
rived at  in  session.    In  this  case  the  great  thing 
is  to  obtain  a  first  signature  at  some  member's 
house,  which  usually  draws  after  it  all  the  rest. 
It  is  very  evident  to  all  that  the  decision  is 


h    <' 


rJ 

1 

I  < 

1 


I' 


224 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


quite  different  from  the  one  taken  in  the  sit- 
ting ;  but  they  can  suppose  that  the  chief  pro- 
curator refused  to  sanction  the  decision  taken, 
and  that,  in  consequence,  the  resolution  was 
changed.  For  peace'  sake  they  sign ;  the  chief 
procurator,  having  on  an  average  one  hundred 
signatures  per  day  to  write,  has  often  nothing 
to  do  with  it ;  and  this  abuse  of  authority 
emanates  purely  and  simply  from  the  chan- 
cery. 

Some  years  ago  a  privy  councillor,  a  director 
of  the  chancery  of  the  Synod,  was  condemned 
to  deportation  to  Siberia  for  malversations.  All 
the  employes  of  the  chancery  are  not,  then,  in- 
corruptible, and  an  idea  can  thus  be  formed  of 
the  abuses  resulting  from  this  omnipotence  of 
the  bureaux. 

There  is  a  story  that  a  member  of  the  Synod 
seeing  one  of  his  colleagues  reading  a  paper, 
said  to  him,  '  Stop,  we  are  not  here  to  read, 
but  to  sign ;  sign  now,  it  gives  less  trouble, 
and  is  sooner  done.'  On  one  occasion,  when 
a  resolution  taken  during  a  sitting  had  been 
changed  for  one  totally  different,  one  of  the 
most  important  personages  of  the  chancery  re- 
paired to  a  member  of  the  Synod  and  obtained 
his  signature.  Another  made  more  difficulty 
about  it.  '  Why  do  you  trouble  yourself  ?  said 
the  official  to  him.     He  who  is  most  directly 


Chap.  V. 


T7ie  Synod. 


225 


interested  in  the  matter  has  made  no  objection. 
Look  at  his  signature.'  The  old  man  signed ; 
but  one  of  his  confidants,  entering  some  mo- 
ments after,  found  him  bathed  in  tears.  '  My 
God  !  my  God !'  cried  he,  ^  to  what  a  depth  of 
humiliation  are  we  fallen  !'* 

Besides  the  chancery,  the  chief  procurator 
has  still  under  his  orders  the  central  direction 
of  the  ecclesiastical  schools  ;  and  if  a  little  more 
authority  over  theij*  seminaries  has  been  given 
to  the  bishops,  the  central  direction,  which  al- 
ways maintains  a  high  hand,  is  itself  placed  in 
the  most  entire  dependence  on  the  chief  procu- 
rator. The  Synod  exercises  a  certain,  but  very 
restricted,  control ;  it  can  but  feebly  oppose  the 
procurator,  and  besides  presents  but  little  co- 
hesion. 

Fancy  all  the  Catholic  seminaries  of  a  coun- 
try placed  under  the  supervision  and  control  of 
a  council  composed  of  five  or  six  bishops  named 
by  the  minister  of  worship,  able  to  take  no 
step  without  the  visa  of  this  minister,  with  lay 
bureaux  having  in  their  hands  all  the  corre- 
spondence and  manipulating  all  the  business. 
Catholic  bishops  would  never  admit  the  mere 
possibility  of  such  an  organisation ;  yet  how 
many  more  guarantees  would  they  have  in  the 


*  0  npaBoc.i.  Ct.ioMT.  ii  hcphomT)  ^yxoB.  torn.  ii.  pp.  1-20 
Synod,  the  chief  procurator,  and  the  chancer}-, 

Q 


On  the 


226 


♦M 


Tlie  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


present  state  of  civilisation  which  are  altogether 
wanting  to  the  Eussian  bishops  ! 

The  department  of  revenue  exercises  its 
action  over  all  financial  and  material  matters. 
Herein,  to  pass  by  all  else,  all  diocesan  autho- 
rities find  themselves  under  the  chief  procu- 
rator's control,  who  experiences  no  difficulty  in 
making  them  feel  his  authority. 

It  is  curious,  after  this,  to  hear  the  arch- 
priest  Wassilieff  say  to  Mgr.  the  Bishop  of 
Nantes :  '  You  see,  Mgr.,  that  far  from  being 
the  president  of  the  holy  Synod,  the  chief  pro- 
curator is  not  even  a  member  of  it ;  he  is  sim- 
ply but  a  civil  functionary  at  the  council.  Far 
from  being  the  Church's  master  and  oppressor, 
he  is  its  benefactor  and  servant.'* 

After  these  decisive  proofs  of  the  depend- 
ence of  the  Eussian  clergy  in  presence  of  the 
procurator  of  the  Synod,  it  must  be  granted  that 
all  precautions  have  been  taken  against  any- 
thing being  either  said  or  done  in  the  Eussian 
Church  but  with  the  consent  and  approval  of 
the  State,  as  represented  by  the  chief  procurator. 
Have  the  same  precautions  been  taken  against 
the  State's  encroachments  on  the  Church  ?  This 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  dreamt  of.     The 

*  Discussion  entre  ^gr.  VEveque  de Nantes  et  M.  VArchipretre 
Wassilieff  au  svjet  de  VAutorite  dans  VEgllse  dc  JRussie.  Parip, 
1861,  pp.  71,  72. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


227 


Free  Church  in  the  Free  State  is  certainly  not 
the  formula  expressing  the  position  of  the  Eus- 
sian Church  ;  no,  we  must  seek  for  some  other. 
What  we  have  hitherto  said  sufficiently  ex- 
plains why  we  should  ask  in  vain  whether  of 
the  Eussian  government  or  of  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  or  of  the  Synod  itself,  or 
finally  of  the  organs  of  public  opinion,  their 
sincere  judgment  of  the  institution  of  the  Sy- 
nod. Yet  we  should  attach  the  highest  value 
to  knowing  exactly  what  they  think  of  it. 
Eeally  this  is  not,  perhaps,  as  impossible  as 
one  would  think  it.  Peter  I.  has  had  imita- 
tors, and  among  the  number  those  who  for  some 
reason  or  other  do  not  inspire  the  same  reserve, 
and  in  whom  one  does  not  much  hesitate  to 
blame  that  which  one  admires  in  him.  Such, 
among  others,  is  Prince  Couza,  till  lately  Hos- 
podar  of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia,  who  treated 
the  Church  cavalierly  enough,  without  how- 
ever taking  so  many  liberties  with  her  as  Peter 
I.  did  with  the  Eussian  Church.  Now,  we  are 
so  fortunate  as  to  possess  on  Couza's  unlucky 
reforms  the  opinions  of  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, of  the  Eussian  Synod,  of  the  Eus-. 
sian  government,  of  the  Eussian  journals,  and, 
lastly,  that  of  the  actual  chief  procurator  of  the 
Synod.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  translate  from 
the  Eussian  a  few  documents  taken  from  the 


228 


Tlie  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


journals.  Let  us  begin  with  the  Northern  Post* 
the  official  journal  of  the  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, and  see  how  it  sums  up  and  criticises 
Prince  Couza's  acts  relative  to  the  Eoumanian 
Church : 

'  In  order  to  make  understood  tlie  documents  we  pub- 
lish below,  it  is  indispensable  to  glance  at  the  acts  of  the 
late  Prince  Couza  relative  to  the  orthodox  Church  in  the 
Principalities. 

We  know  that  Prince  Couza  sought  support  in  the 
ranks  of  the  enemies  of  orthodoxy,  and  for  this  he  sought 
to  subordinate  to  his  authority  the  Eoumanian  orthodox 
clergy  and  the  admmistration  of  the  Church.  To  attain 
this  end,  Prince  Couza  thought  to  introduce  new  ecclesi- 
astical institutions  of  such  a  nature  as  to  completely 
weaken  the  Church  while  subjecting  it  to  his  power. 

By  his  orders  there  were  drawn  up  at  the  IMinistry  of 
Public  Worship,  without  the  cooperation  of  the  clergy, 
three  projects  of  new  ecclesiastical  regulations,  which  in 
July  1864  received  the  sanction  of  the  Parliament,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  year  were  signed  by  the  Hospodar.  Of  this 
new  code  the  principal  features  are  these  : 

The  Roumanian  orthodox  Church  (which  hitherto  de- 
pended on  the  hierarchical  supremacy  of  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople)  is  proclaimed  independent  of  all  foreign 
ecclesiastical  authority  whatsoever.  The  government  of  the 
Eoumanian  Church  is  subject  to  a  Synod  receiving  the  de- 
nomination, hitherto  unheard  of  among  the  orthodox,  of 
General  Synod,  Of  this  Synod  are  named  as  members, 
firstly,  all  the  Eoumanian  bishops ;  then  three  delegates 
from  each  diocese,  chosen  for  three  years  among  the  priests 
or  laymen,  but  by  such  a  mode  of  election  that  the  re- 

*  CtBepeaa  Uo'iia. 


Chap.  V. 


Tlie  Synod, 


229 


suit  of  the  scrutiny  depends  on  the  will  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  presidency  of  the  Synod  is  conferred  on  the 
Metropolitan  of  Wallachia,  but  not  in  virtue  of  the  dignity 
with  wliich  he  is  clothed,  nor  in  his  own  name ;  but  in 
the  name  of  the  Hospodar ,  a  thing  unheard  of  in  the  or- 
thodox as  well  as  in  the  Latin  Church. 

The  Synod  must  assemble  in  July  once  every  two  years ; 
it  is  convoked  by  the  Minister  of  Public  Worship,  who 
proposes  the  questions  for  debate,  is  present  at  its  sittings, 
takes  part  in  its  deliberations,  presents  its  resolutions  to 
the  Hospodar,  and  puts  them  into  execution.  If  the  Synod 
presumes  to  touch  any  matter  not  brought  before  it,  the 
minister  termLiiates  the  sitting.  In  any  case  of  urgency 
for  the  immediate  convoking  of  an  extraordinary  sitting, 
the  bishops  must  address  their  request  for  it  to  the  minis- 
ter, with  whom  it  lies  to  grant  or  to  refuse  it.  The  Synod 
has  no  right  to  extend  its  supervision  to  the  instruction 
in  the  seminaries  (so  that  Latin  tendencies  could  be  there 
propagated  without  hindrance).  The  Synod  has  no  right 
to  meddle  in  judgment  as  to  the  measures  relating  to 
toleration  and  liberty  of  conscience  wliich  the  civil  power 
shall  deem  it  useful  to  adopt  (in  order  to  open  the  gates 
to  Eoman  propagandism). 

To  complete  these  measures,  by  order  of  the  Hospodar, 
the  Chamber,  in  January  1865,  sanctioned  another  project 
relating  to  the  nomination  of  bishops.  There  had  long 
existed  a  rule  inscribed  in  the  law  of  Moldavia  and  Wal- 
lachia, in  virtue  of  which  the  bishops  are  elected  in  as- 
semblies composed  of  ecclesiastical  and  lay  deputies,  and 
afterwards  confirmed  by  the  Hospodar ;  as  to  the  election 
of  the  metropolitans,  it  is  subject  to  the  confirmation  of 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  In  contempt  of  this  an- 
cient rule,  it  has  been  established  that  the  bishops  and 
metropolitans  should  be  chosen  in  a  preliminary  assembly 
of  the  council  of  ministers,  and  that  they  should  be  desig- 


230 


TJie  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


nated  by  tlie  Hospodar  on  the  presentation  of  the  minis- 
ter of  worship.  In  this  fashion  the  Hospodar  completely 
possessed  himself  of  the  government  of  the  Church,  he 
arrogated  to  himself  the  right  of  naming  her  bishops  and 
controlling  all  their  dispositions. 

To  crown  all  these  innovations,  it  has  been  laid  down 
by  a  special  article,  that  "  aU  previous  laws  not  agreeing 
with  the  present  dispositions  are  abrogated."  By  these 
last  words  the  force  and  authority  of  all  the  canons  of  the 
oecumenical  councils,  forming  the  basis  of  the  organisation, 
administration,  and  life  of  the  orthodox  Church,  are  defini- 
tively broken. 

The  news  of  the  accomplishment  of  these  reforms  ar- 
rived in  Constantinople  by  the  Courrier  de  Dade,  which 
published  the  text  of  the  new  laws ;  it  there  produced  in- 
tense excitement,  and  indeed  profound  grief,  in  all  ortho- 
dox society.     His  Holiness  the  Patriarch  Sophronius  con- 
voked an  extraordinary  council,  in  which  all  patriarchs 
happening  to  be  in  the  city  took  part,  both  those  in  office 
and  those  deposed,  all  metropolitans,  all  bishops,  and  a 
few  archimandrites.     This  assembly  adopted  a  conciliary 
canonical  resolution  on  the  essential  signification  of  the 
new  legislative  measures,  and  on  the  usurpation  of  the 
Eoumanian  government  in  matters  ecclesiastical.     It  was 
resolved  to  transmit  it  to  Bucharest,  by  sending  there  the 
archimandrite  Eustachius  Cleobulus  with  letters  from  the 
Patriarch  for  the  Hospodar,  the  ]\Ietropolitans  of  Wal- 
lachia   and  Moldavia,  as  also  for  aU  the  bishops  under 
them,  demanding  the  repeal  of  the  newly  promulgated 
ecclesiastical  laws. 

Every  one  knows  from  the  journals  the  result  of  the 
archimandrite  Cleobulus's  journey :  under  the  pretext  of 
no  leisure  amid  his  numerous  engagements,  the  ex-Prince 
Couza  refused  for  a  fortnight  to  receive  the  Patriarch's 
envoy,  and  at  last  sent  him  word  to  hand  the  papers  he 


Cliap.  V. 


TJie  Synod. 


231 


had  brought  to  the  minister  of  worship,  notwithstanding 
the  persistency  of  Father  Cleobulus,  who  had  declared 
that  he  had  a  mission  from  the  Patriarch  to  deliver  by 
word  of  mouth  certain  communications  to  the  Hospodar. 

After  this,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  liis  sojourn  in  the 
Principalities,  he  was  accused  of  fomenting  plots  and  an 
insurrection  against  the  government ;  and  under  this  pre- 
text, police-agents  were  sent  to  him,  who,  having  searched 
liis  papers  through  without  finding  anything,  hurried  him 
under  escort  beyond  the  frontiers  to  the  city  of  Giurgevo ; 
here,  after  having  undergone  another  examination,  and 
whilst  waiting  for  the  steamboat,  he  was  shut  up  in  a 
room  and  sentinels  placed  at  his  door.  The  Patriarch's 
envoy,  thus  humiliated  and  insulted,  did  not  wait  for  the 
steamer;  but  hurrying  into  a  fisherman's  boat,  crossed  the 
Danube,  and  betook  himself  to  Eustchuk. 

In  this  ignominious  fashion  was  the  archimandrite 
Cleobulus  driven  from  Bucharest,  May  11th;  and  on  the 
same  day,  as  a  reply  to  the  Patriarch's  letter.  Prince  Couza, 
of  his  own  authority,  designated  the  six  first  bishops  for 
the  vacant  sees  in  Eoumania,  and  among  the  number  the 
Metropolitan  of  Moldavia. 

The  return  of  the  archimandrite  Cleobulus  produced 
at  Constantinople  a  general  outburst  of  indignation  among 
the  clergy  and  orthodox  population ;  for  in  the  annals  of 
the  orthodox  Church  was  there  no  example  of  the  official 
envoy  of  the  first  and  most  ancient  of  her  pastors  having 
received  a  reception  so  outrageous,  contemptuous,  and  inso- 
lent, on  the  part  of  a  ruler  of  an  orthodox,  and  above  all 
of  a  little  country, — one  not  independent,  but  whose  prince 
was  vassal  to  another ;  and  when,  farther,  the  prince  of 
the  Church  in  the  country  he  governs  is  hierarchically 
subordinate  directly  to  this  pastor.'"* 

*  We  have  reproduced  as  textually  as  we  could  this  very  tangled 
phrase,  the  sense  of  which  is,  however,  very  clear.     The  Northern 


232 


The  Synod, 


Chap.  V. 


The  Patriarcli  immediately  convoked  a  new  extraordi- 
nary council,  and  communicated  to  it  the  result  of  the 
mission  with  which  the  archimandrite  Cleobulus  had  been 
charged.  The  council  decided  that  in  these  circumstances, 
painful  and  important  for  the  whole  orthodox  Church,  it 
was  necessary  to  ask  counsel  of  the  other  national  ortho- 
dox Churches.  For  two  months  the  Church  of  Constanti- 
nople waited  for  the  Hospodar's  answer  to  the  Patriarch's 
letter ;  but  when  this  expectation  proved  vain,  there  was 
no  longer  room  for  delay  or  for  tenderness  towards  the 
Eoumanian  government.  His  Holiness  sent  to  our  [of 
Eussia]  plenipotentiary  at  Constantinople,  to  procure  the 
sending  to  the  holy  Synod  an  official  letter,  asking  of  it 
wise  counsel,  fraternal  support,  and  salutary  measures, 
within  the  limits  of  the  rights  determined  by  the  canons,  in 
order  to  put  an  end  to  the  perilous  situation  of  the  Moldo- 
Wallachian  Church. 

The  Hospodar,  however,  and  his  devoted  accomplices 
did  not  sleep,  and  in  order  to  justify  before  European 
public  opinion  the  usurpation  they  had  permitted  in  eccle- 
siastical affairs,  and  their  unheard-of  proceedings  in  respect 
to  the  Patriarch's  envoy,  had  recourse  to  the  press.  Xews 
from  Bucharest  aj^peared  in  the  foreign  journals,  according 
to  which,  the  true  cause  of  the  disagreements  between  the 
Church  and  the  Eoumanian  government  was  simply  the 
material  constraint  in  which  the  Patriarch  found  himself 
in  consequence  of  the  confiscation  in  the  Principalities  of 
the  monastic  properties  belonging  to  the  Greek  Church ;  a 
report  being  at  the  same  time  spread  that  the  archimandrite 
Cleobulus  had  been  sent  to  Bucharest  with  the  object  of 


Post  intended  to  say,  *  Were  it  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  nothing 
could  be  said ;  but  the  Hospodar  of  Wallachia  1'  And  this  obser- 
vation well  attests  the  rare  prudence  of  the  Paste  du  Nord;  for 
there  is  no  other  difference. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


233 


raising  there  an  insurrection  against  the  government.  ^  In 
these  circumstances  people  did  not  forget  to  calumniate 
Eussia ;  but  the  journal  Byzaniis,  the  organ  of  the  Patri- 
arch of  Constantinople,  reestablished  the  facts  as  they 
were,  and,  starting  with  the  unjust  attacks  directed  against 
Eussia,  recalled  to  notice  the  ingratitude  with  which  her 
benefits  to  Moldo-Wallachia  had  been  requited  by  the  men 
at  the  head  of  the  Eoumanian  government.     The  ex-Hos- 
podar.  Prince   Couza,   again  had  recourse  to  a  peculiar 
]ueans  of  bringing  public  opinion  to  his  side  in  the  matter. 
He  drew  up  an  answer  to  the  Patriarch's  letter;  but  with- 
out sending  it  to  him,  had  it  printed  in  the  foreign  journals. 
This  answer,  written  in  defence  of  the  anti-canonical 
innovations  introduced  into  the  Eoumanian  Church,  con- 
sisted in  an  arbitrary  interpretation  of  the  ecclesiastical 
canons,  and  in  inexact  references  to  historical  facts  which 
were  either  distorted  or  meant  absolutely  nothing.     By 
this  subterfuge  the  public,  but  little  familiar  with  these 
canons  and  facts,  and  having  no  idea  of  the  contents  of 
the  Patriarch's  letter,  after  having  acquainted  themselves 
with  the  Hospodar's  reply,  which  was  not  remarkable  for 
its  veracity,  were  obliged  to  consider  Prince  Couza's  acts 
perfectly  regular. 

The  Eoumanian  clergy  could  not  remain  a  silent  and 
indifferent  witness  of  this  abuse  of  power  on  the  part  of 
the  government.*  Deprived  of  force  and  influence,  it  dared 
not  loudly  protest  against  the  Hospodar's  acts ;  but  on 
May  23d  the  bishops  presented  to  Prince  Couza  a  me- 
morial signed  by  them,  in  which,  in  the  most  humble 
terms,  but  nevertheless  with  much  detail  and  firmness, 
they  pronounced  a  complete  censure  on  the  ecclesiastical 
laws  newly  published,  and  prayed  the  Prince  not  to  put 
them  in  execution,  but  to  previously  submit  them  to  the 
examination  of  the  bishops  in  order  to  their  modification. 
»  Northern  Post,  you  forget  yourself  1 


234 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  T. 


The  Synod. 


235 


No  regard  was  paid  to  this  petition.  Several  of  the  bishops 
then  addressed  themselves  by  private  letters  directly  to 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  imploring  his  defence  in 
favour  of  the  unfortunate  Church  of  Roumania,  and  speak- 
ing of  the  excommunication  of  Prince  Couza,  whom  they 
dubbed  Julian  the  Apostate.  Two  bishops,  quitting  the 
Principalities,  undertook  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  and 
Mount  Athos,  to  avoid  taking  part  in  innovations  to  which 
their  duty  and  conscience  were  alike  repugnant.* 

When  Prince  Couza  and  his  accomplices  learnt  that 
the  Patriarch  had  addressed  himself  officially  to  the  most 
half/  S}Tiod  of  the  Russian  Church,  and  to  the  holf/  Synod 
of  Athens,t  ^^r  their  advice,  they  were  terrified  at  sight  of 
the  peril  which  threatened  them.  By  virtue  of  the  canons, 
the  authors  of  violence  against  the  Church,  and  those  who 
infringe  her  laws,  are  excommunicated ;  and  in  the  present 
case  a  resolution  on  this  subject,  taken  by  all  the  Eastern 
patriarchs,  with  the  full  powers  of  the  Russian  and  Athe- 
nian Synods,  would  have  been  a  determination  taken  in 
common  by  all  the  parts  of  the  orthodox  Church,  and 
would  have  been  equivalent  to  the  sentence  of  an  oecu- 
menical council.  To  prevent  these  consequences,  the  Hos- 
podar  ordered  his  charge  -  d'aflPaires  at  Constantinople 
immediately  to  send  the  Patriarch  Sophronius  the  reply 
to  the  latter's  letter  long  since  published  in  the  journals. 
The  charge-d'affaires  multiplied  to  the  Patriarch  excuses 
and  regrets  respecting  what  had  happened,  and  sought  to 
justify  Prince  Couza,  by  saying  that  he  had  acted  against 
his  own  feelings  and  convictions  under  the  pressure  of 
circumstances.  In  concluding,  he  expressed  in  the  warmest 
terms  the  liveliest  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Hospodar  to 

*  If  the  Russian  bishops  of  Peter  the  First's  time  had  acted  in 
this  fashion,  they  would  perhaps  have  deserved  the  eulogies  of  the 
Mrthern  Post;  but  they  would  have  expired  on  the  wheel. 

t  The  little  cannot  be  most  holy. 


cr 


arrange  this  affair  by  putting  himself  in  accord  with  his 
Holiness,  and,  to  this  end,  to  enter  into  negotiations  with 
him.  This  proposition  of  Prince  Couza  had,  however,  no 
result.  The  Patriarch  then  judged  it  necessary  once  more 
to  convoke  the  council,  which  decided  that  a  new  letter 
ought  to  be  addressed  to  the  Hospodar,  refuting  the  in 
correct  conclusions  contained  in  his  reply,  and  invitm 
him  into  the  path  of  regular  conduct.  In  the  following 
November  the  Patriarch  sent  a  copy  of  these  documents 
to  our  most  holy  Synod,  with  a  letter,  in  which  he  re- 
quested its  concurrence  for  the  defence  of  the  spiritual  in- 
terests of  the  Roumanian  people. 

At  this  same  epoch  the  Roumanian  government  an- 
nounced the  convocation  of  the  General  Synod  at  Buchar- 
est for  the  month  of  December,  and  occupied  itself  with 
preparing  the  programme  of  its  labours.  As  all  the  acts 
of  Prince  Couza  and  his  party  had  for  their  object  to  de- 
tach the  Roumanian  Church  from  the  oecumenical,  they 
were  incessantly  devising  new  measures  for  successively 
separatmg  the  people  from  orthodoxy,  and  subjecting  them 
to  the  Pope  by  means  of  the  union. '^'  An  attempt  of  this 
kind  is  seen  in  the  series  of  questions  sent  by  the  miuis- 

*  We  have  no  concern  here  with  the  plan  pursued  by  Prince 
Couza,  but  we  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  the  Northern  Post 
is  misled  in  imagining  that  this  Hospodar  laboured  in  tlie  interest 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  Prince  Couza  wished  to  substitute  in  the 
Eoumanian  Church  the  Latin  rite  for  the  Greek— this  we  believe-- 
taking  this  course  on  the  ground  that  the  Roumanians  were  a  Latin 
race ;  but  he  certainly  did  not  dream  of  subjecting  the  Roumanian 
Church  to  the  authority  of  the  Pope.  He  wished  for  a  national 
Church,  as  independent  of  Rome  as  of  Constantinople.  If  the  Poste 
du  Noril  aims  at  knowing  what  this  Church  was  to  be,  it  can  ask 
Prince  Vladimir  Tcherkasky,  who  now  has  leisure  to  communicate 
to  it  the  plans  he  formed  for  the  Polish  Church.  The  Roumanian 
Church  of  Prince  Couza  and  the  Polish  Church  of  Prince  Tcher- 
kasky were  to  be  constructed  on  the  same  plan :  a  Latin  rite ;  abso- 
lute independence  of  Rome ;  absolute  dependence  on  the  civil  power. 


I.  I 


236 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


237 


ter  of  worsliip  to  one  of  the  "bishops  designated  by  the 
Hospodar,  and  which  were  to  be  submitted  to  the  Synod 
for  deliberation.  Among  these  questions  figured  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Gregorian  Calendar  into  general  use,  and 
into  that  of  the  Church,  and  the  adoption  of  organs  in 
churches.  A  year  before,  there  had  been  inserted  in  the 
Voice  of  Roumania,  a  journal  subsidised  by  the  govern- 
ment, certain  articles  which,  by  the  aid  of  false  statements 
and  perverted  historical  facts,  led  one  to  give  to  Latinism 
the  character  of  the  national  rehgion  of  Eoumania, 

At  Jassy  a  Latin  seminary  was  organised,  with  the 
aid  of  government,  in  which  was  given  instruction  incom- 
parably superior  to  that  of  the  orthodox  seminaries ;  for 
in  the  latter,  not  even  instruction  in  classical  and  modern 
languages  was  permitted,  in  order  that  the  orthodox  clergy 
might  stand  on  a  lower  level  than  the  Latin.  The  prelate 
Salanderi  was  allowed  to  enter  ^loldavia  as  a  visitor  sent 
by  the  Pope,  and  a  report  even  got  into  circulation  that 
the  Hospodar  was  continually  carrying  on  negotiations 
with  the  Court  of  Eome,  but  that  these  were  wrapt  in 
impenetrable  mystery. 

At  the  time  of  the  convocation  of  the  Synod,  the 
intentions  and  views  of  the  government  were  clearly 
manifested  with  respect  to  the  results  expected  from  this 
measure.  In  article  4  of  the  new  law,  it  was  said  that  all 
the  bishops  are  members  of  the  General  S^-nod;  but  Prince 
Couza  caused  letters  of  convocation  to  be  addressed  only 
to  a  certain  number  of  bishops  chosen  according  to  con- 
siderations of  his  own.  Two  Moldavian  bishops,  ^Igr. 
Joseph  of  Sebaste,  and  Mgr.  Pilaret  of  Stauropol,  known 
for  their  devotion  to  orthodoxy,  having  received  no  invi- 
tation to  sit  in  the  Synod,  resolved,  notwithstanding,  to 
repair  to  Bucharest ;  but  they  were  stopped  on  the  road 
by  agents  of  the  government,  and  sent  back  under  escort 
from  Fokchany  to  Jassy.     They  forwarded  their  protests 


to  the  consuls  of  the  protecting  powers,  as  well  as  in  the 
name  of  the  General  Synod.  In  these  documents  they 
strongly  complained  of  the  usurpation  of  the  Hospodar, 
and  of  the  innovations  he  had  introduced  into  the  Church. 
Mgr.  I^eophyte,  Bishop  of  Edessa,  and  brother  of  the  Bishop 
of  Stauropol,  also  sent  a  protest.  This  proceeding  of  the 
three  bishops,  and  the  sympathy  they  met  "wdth  among  the 
members  of  the  Synod,  excited  in  that  assembly  a  strong 
opposition  to  all  the  Latin  innovations,  in  spite  of  the 
predominating  influence  of  governmental  authority.  In 
consequence  of  this  circumstance,  and  fearing  new  conflicts 
on  spiritual  matters,  the  Hospodar  resolved  on  closing  the 
session  for  an  indefinite  time.  The  orthodox  people  of 
Eoumania  will  doubtless  know  well  how  to  discern  the 
motives  which  have  brought  about  these  innovations,  and 
will  not  allow  themselves  to  be  seduced  by  the  manifest 
imposture  of  the  enemies  of  their  Church  and  nationality. 
In  presence  of  acts  so  grievous  for  the  orthodox  Church, 
emanating  from  the  government  of  the  late  Prince  Couza, 
the  most  holy  Synod  could  not  but  answer  with  entire  sym- 
pathy the  fraternal  letter  addressed  to  it  by  the  oecumeni- 
cal Patriarch.'   {Mosc.  Gaz.  1866,  l^o.  43,  Peb.  26,  o.s.) 

We  have  translated  the  entire  article  of  the 
Northern  Post,  as  given  in  the  Moscoic  Gazette, 
leaving  the  official  sheet  of  St.  Petersburg  to 
exhibit  Prince  Conza's  acts  from  its  own  point 
of  view.  These  we  by  no  means  pretend  to 
defend ;  but  we  ask  ourselves,  how  is  it  pos- 
sible to  have  two  weights  and  two  measures, 
and  so  blame  in  Prince  Couza  what  is  praised 
in  Peter  I.  ?  If  we  go  to  the  root  of  the  mat- 
ter, Couza  has  done  no  more  than  follow  the 


1» 


238 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


example  set  him  on  the  banks  of  the  IS'eva. 
He  has  perhaps  a  little  less  skilfully  disguised 
his  usurpation,  but  it  does  not  outdo  what  has 
been  done  at  Petersburg ;  in  both  cases  we  see 
a  national  Church  completely  independent  of 
all  foreign  control,  and  completely  subject  to 
the  civil  power.     It  would  even  be  easy  to 
demonstrate  that,  in  several  respects,  the  Eou- 
manian  Church  had  preserved  guarantees  utterly 
wanting  in  the  case  of  the  Eussian  Church. 
Suffice  it  to  mention  the  irremovability  of  the 
bishops.     The  General  Synod  of  Bucharest  is 
no  greater  innovation  than  that  (governing) 
Synod  of  St.  Petersburg;    both  are  far  from 
canonical,  but  the  composition  of  that  at  Bu- 
charest assured  to  it  a  considerable  degree  of 
independence,  as  the  event  has  proved.     The 
only  real  difference  between  these  two  ecclesi- 
astical coups  d^etai  is  that  so  accurately  indi- 
cated by  the  Northern  Post  itself:  in  the  one 
case  we  see  a  petty  vassal-prince  of  the  sul- 
tan's, in  the  other  a  powerful  autocrat.     The 
Northern  Post  has  forgotten  to  tell  us  in  what 
this    difference,    very  real  in  a  military  and 
political  point  of  view,   has   any  value  in  a 
canonical. 

But  it  is  time  to  allow  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  to  speak. 

'  To  the  most  holy  governing  Synod  of  the  Orthodox 


\'S 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


239 


Church  of  the  empire  protected  of  God  in  all  the  Eussias, 
our  fraternal  greeting  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Without  douht,  reports  have  reached  your  Reverences 
of  the  projects  of  law  of  the  Roumanian  government, 
which,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  have  lately  appeared, 
and  which,  by  introducing  changes  into  the  ecclesiastical 
administration  of  the  orthodox  Principalities  of  the  Danube, 
with  the  object  of  shaking  the  foundations  of  the  piety 
of  the  orthodox  Roumanian  people,  transmitted  by  their 
fathers,  by  means  of  the  enslavement  of  the  holy  clergy 
of  this  country,  by  means  of  usurpation  by  the  lay  power 
of  ecclesiastical  rights,  and  by  all  kinds  of  attempts  to  in- 
troduce anti-canonical  innovations,  as  is  known  to  all  those 
who  have  attentively  followed  the  under-mentioned  pro- 
jects of  law,  which  also  have  already  been  published  in 
the  journals.  Having  early  become  acquainted  with  such 
a  state  of  affairs  in  these  countries,  the  great  and  holy 
Church  of  Christ,  the  spiritual  guardian  of  the  command- 
ments of  the  Apostles  and  holy  Fathers,  took  care  more 
than  a  year  ago  to  put  on  his  guard  the  spiritual  pastor  of 
this  country,  Mgr.  Niphon,  Metropolitan  of  the  Hungaro- 
Wallachian  Church,  by  transmitting  to  him  in  our  syno- 
dical  letter  the  necessary  counsels  and  instructions,  which 
unfortunately  were  not  accepted  by  his  Grace  with  the 
dispositions  and  zeal  they  deserved,  because  he  allowed 
himself  to  be  led  by  the  suggestions  of  political  authority, 
as  we  have  learnt  by  the  reply  he  has  at  last  sent  us,  and 
by  other  indications.  Consequently,  being  acquainted  with 
the  aforesaid  projects  of  law,  the  great  Cliurch  of  Christ, 
accomplishing  the  duty,  imposed  on  her  by  the  canons,  of 
watching  over  the  Church  of  this  country,  being  unable  to 
remain  an  indifferent  spectator  of  things  having  for  their 
object  the  spiritual  ruin  of  her  pious  children,  resolved  to 
convoke  a  great  and  holy  council,  composed  of  most  holy 
patriarchs,   venerated  metropolitans,  and  most  reverend 


240 


Tlie  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


doctors ;  and  tliis  council,  after  a  severe  and  attentive  ex- 
amination, has  formulated  a  decree,  in  which,  by  means  of 
testimonies  borrowed  from  Scripture  and  the  canons,  it 
unmasks  the  anti- canonical  character  of  the  laws  projected 
by  the  Koumanian  government,  and  exposes  with  a  spi- 
ritual prudence  the  necessity  of  abrogating  and  annulling 
them.     This  synodical  decree,  accompanied  by  ecclesiasti- 
cal letters,  has  been  sent  into  Moldo-Wallachia,  to  the  re- 
presentatives of  the  two  powers,  through  an  ecclesiastical 
personage,  to  whom  has  been  confided  the  mission  not 
only  of  officially  delivering  these  documents,  but  farther 
of  explaining  them  in  case  of  need,  in  conformity  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Church.    Your  venerable  charity  will  be  able 
to  take  an  exact  and  detailed  notice  of  these  important 
dispositions  of  the  great  Church  of  Christ,  by  the  copies 
which  we  transmit  you  under  this  cover.     You  will  there 
find  the  copy  of  the  s}Tiodical  letter  to  the  Metropolitan 
of  the  Hungaro- Walla chian  Church,  which  was  written  on 
the  occasion  of  the  reports  being  circulated  of  the  abolition 
of  the  Old  Calendar,  adopted  by  the  Oriental  Church  ;  on 
the  recitation  of  the  symbol  with  the  addition  condemned 
by  the  oecumenical  councils,  as  well  as  by  the  above-named 
resolution,  and  by  the  letters  added  thereto,  as  also  the 
copy  of  the  last  reply  of  the  said  metropolitan,  dispatched 
by  himself  after  the  return  of  the  ecclesiastical  personage 
sent  by  the  Church.     But  what  trouble  will  not  your 
mind  feel  when  you  learn  the  reception  accorded  by  his 
Highness  Prince  Alexander  Couza  to  the  expressed  solici- 
tude of  the  great  Church  of  Christ,""'  inspired  by  her  ma- 
ternal grief !     His  Highness  did  not  deign  to  receive  and 
hear  the  envoy  of  the  great  Church  of  Christ :  our  archi- 
mandrite, a  very  worthy  man,  known  for  his  piety  and 
learning,  was  with  great  ignominy  sent  back  beyond  the 
frontiers  of  the  Principalities  under  guard  of  the  poHce. 

♦  This  is  the  title  taken  by  the  Church  of  Constantinople. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


241 


To  crown  so  many  outrages,  calumnies  without  number 
have  been  spread  abroad  about  his  sojourn  and  his  em- 
bassy, which  had  a  character  purely  ecclesiastical;  and  our 
patriarchal  and  synodical  letters  addressed  to  his  High- 
ness have  been  contemned,  and  not  been  honoured  even 
with  an  answer.  ]S'or  was  this  enough  :  immediately  after 
the  envoy's  expulsion,  the  loioits  (!)  prince  confirmed  the 
above-mentioned  projects  of  law,  and  he,  a  temporal  prince, 
placed  at  the  head  of  Churches  bishops  chosen  by  the 
ministry. 

This,  beloved  brethren  in  Christ,  is  the  reason  why  we 
have  deemed  it  necessary  to  inform  you  of  these  things, 
that  you  may  receive  an  exact  account  of  the  circumstances 
of  the  matter,  in  order  to  judge  in  common  of  the  deter- 
mination of  the  great  Church  of  Christ,  which  has  con- 
demned as  contrary  to  the  canons,  and  transgressing  the 
eternal  limits  set  by  our  fathers,  the  said  projects  of  law 
of  the  Eoumanian  government  trenching  on  spiritual  and 
ecclesiastical  matters  entirely  foreign  to  its  jurisdiction. 
We  are  convinced  that  in  the  present  matter,  which  de- 
mands union  and  unanimity  of  all  the  orthodox  Churches 
in  Jesus  Christ,  your  venerated  charity,  sharing  not  only 
the  profound  grief  and  the  painful  impression  felt  by  us, 
and  by  all  orthodox  Christian  hearts,  at  this  conduct  of 
the  Roumanian  government,  but  also  the  solicitude  inspir- 
ing us  for  the  salvation  of  the  orthodox  Eoumanian  people 
exposed  to  so  great  a  danger,  will  doubtless  be  willing  to 
consider  and  examine  everything  that  can  conduce  to  this 
end,  and  will  not  fail  to  take,  with  suitable  care,  and  with- 
in the  limits  fixed  by  the  canons,  all  other  salutary  mea- 
sures to  render  vain  those  efforts  against  which  the  Church 
of  Christ  has  in  the  spirit  of  gentleness  striven  until  now. 
Thus  we  await  from  you  not  only  the  expression  of  your 
serious  attention,  and  the  judgment  of  your  pious  wisdom, 
but  farther  your  fraternal  cooperation,  and  the  spiritual 

E 


242 


Tlie  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


help  witli  which  religious  zeal  will  inspire  you.  to  put  an 
end  to  so  dangerous  a  situation,  which  is  dragging  into 
perdition  a  Christian  people  for  whose  blood  we  must 
hereafter  give  account.  We  shall  await  with  impatience 
your  esteemed  reply,  and  news  of  your  brotherly  health, 
which  is  precious  to  us. 

The  Lord  grant  you  long  years,  health,  and  salva- 
tion. 

Your  Eeverences*  very  dear  and  loving  brother  in  Jesus 
Christ,  Sophronius  of  Constantinople.* 

We  have  endeavoured  to  give  the  most 
literal  translation  possible  of  this  curious  docu- 
ment. We  will  not  dwell  on  the  rather  hollow 
phraseology,  and  the  little  agreement  between 
words  and  deeds ;  but  we  will  openly  congrat- 
ulate ourselves  on  seeing  the  Church  of  Con- 
stantinople proclaim  with  so  much  earnestness 
the  necessity  of  maintaining  ecclesiastical  in- 
dependence in  the  presence  of  the  secular  power, 
and  the  union  of  the  different  national  Churches, 
to  form  therefrom  one  single  universal  Church. 

Let  us  now  see  the  reply  of  the  Synod. 
We  must  be  just  to  this  assembly.  It  felt  it- 
self in  a  false  position,  and,  spite  of  itself,  to 
this  feeling  its  embarrassed  language  testifies. 

'  To  the  most  holy  Sophronius,  Archbishop  of  Constan- 
tinople,— the  new  Eome, — oecumenical  Patriarch. 

Fraternal  greeting  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

By  the  letter  of  your  Holiness,  dated  July  1st,  1865, 
we  have  learnt  with  profound  grief  the  events  which 
have  afflicted  all  the  united  Churches  in  orthodoxy,  and 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


243 


which  have  shaken  the  good  order  and  prosperity  of  the 
Moldo-Wallachian  Church. 

If  our  sympathising  thought  has  stopped  on  the  road 
that  leads  to  word  and  action  (that  is,  if  we  have  as  yet 
neither  said  nor  done  anything),  it  has  been  partly  for  want 
of  knowing  with  clearness  and  precision  certain  circum- 
stances of  these  events,  and  partly  because  we  were  hoping 
that  the  orthodox  spirit  of  the  ministers  of  the  Moldo- 
Wallachian  Church  would  be  aroused,  would  with  firmness 
place  itself  on  guard  of  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  order 
handed  down  by  the  fathers  ;  that  they  would  raise  a  per- 
suasive voice  towards  the  orthodox  authorities  and  towards 
the  people ;  that  they  would  take  to  heart  the  voice  of  the 
Mother  Church,  and  by  these  common  efforts  be  preserved 
from  innovations  incompatible  with  the  sacred  canons. 

It  is  to  us  a  new  affliction  to  see  our  hopes  little  justi- 
fied by  the  course  of  events.  Tlie  members  of  the  Moldo- 
Wallachian  hierarchy  are  but  few  who,  not  without  suffer- 
ing, have  uttered  words  of  truth  in  order  to  unmask  error  : 
may  their  sacrifice  be  pleasing  to  the  divine  Head  of  the 
Church,  the  Christ,  our  God!  The  Moldo-Wallachian 
Prince  has  not,  most  holy  sir,  deigned  to  reply  to  your 
letter,  and  to  the  memorial  of  the  council  surrounding  you, 
with  pacific  dispositions,  but  has  decided,  according  to  his 
own  expression,  "  to  fight  them  with  the  invincible  arms 
of  the  laws  and  canons." 

In  these  circumstances,  in  virtue  of  our  duty  to  guard 
in  common  and  mutually  the  peace  and  unanimity  of  the 
Churches,  we  find  ourselves  obliged  to  testify  that  the  war 
imdertaken  has  not  been  marked  by  victory,  and  that  the 
right  arrogated  by  the  temporal  prince,  to  innovate  in  the 
legislation  and  administration  of  the  Moldo-Wallachian 
Church,  appears  destitute  of  legal  basis.  The  detailed  ex- 
position of  this  thought  is  given  in  the  annexed  disserta- 
tion. 


244 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  y. 


Chap.  Y. 


Tlie  Synod. 


245 


We  recognise  that  the  establishment  of  a  new  Synod, 
having  legislative  and  administrative  authority,  is  beyond 
the  competence  of  the  civil  power,  and  demands  the  ex- 
amination and  confirmation  of  a  council  more  exalted  in 
the  Church,  and  particularly  that  of  the  Patriarch  to  whose 
jurisdiction  the  Church  instituting  a  new  Synod  belongs. 
Examples  of  this  can  be  seen  at  hand  in  the  Synod  of  all 
the  Eussias,  and  in  that  of  Athens.  We  recognise  as  con- 
trary to  the  canons  and  to  the  Gospel  (Luke  x.  16,  Matt, 
xviii.  20),  the  proposition  that  "  The  Metropolitan  of  Eou- 
mania  presides  at  the  Synod  in  the  name  of  the  Hospodar." 
We  recognise  as  contrary  to  the  canons,  the  designation  of 
bishops  by  sole  lay  authority  without  ecclesiastical  election. 
Those  who  have  been  nominated  in  this  fashion  should 
confront  the  30th  canon  of  the  holy  Apostles,  and  exam- 
ine with  fear  if  it  be  a  veritable  consecration  which  they 
will  receive  and  extend  over  their  flock. 

We  confine  ourselves  to  noting  the  most  important 
deviations  from  the  sacred  canons.  If  God's  grace  bring 
about  a  return  from  these  to  the  Church's  true  path,  it 
will  also  reveal  the  means  of  remedying  the  rest.  Without 
doubt,  most  holy  sir,  your  paternal  love  for  the  Moldo- 
Wallachian  Church  and  her  children  is  not  exhausted. 
Could  not  means  be  found  by  a  persuasive  and  love-in- 
spired language  to  sustain  those  who  are  now  strong  in 
justice,  to  strengthen  those  who  are  shaken,  bring  back 
those  who  have  wandered,  replace  the  matter  on  the  ground 
of  pacific  conference,  and  guarantee  the  inviolability  of 
what  is  essential  by  some  condescension  as  to  what  can  be 
tolerated  ?  We  are  convinced  that  in  order  to  arrive  at 
this  result,  our  most  pious  emperor  will  order,  or  has  al- 
ready ordered,  his  minister  to  transmit  to  the  ]\[oldo-Wall- 
achian  government  good  and  pacific  counsels. 

We  pray  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  His  all-influencing 
grace,  to  direct  your  acts,  and  those  of  the  council  assem° 


bled  around  you,  to  the  pacification  of  the  Moldo-Wall- 
achian  Church,  and  to  the  preservation  of  this  member  of 
Christ's  mystical  body  in  a  healthful  union  with  the  great 
body  of  the  orthodox  oecumenical  Church.  We  sincerely 
wish  your  Holiness  every  good  with  salvation,  and  remain 
united  to  you  in  the  bonds  of  brotherly  love  in  Jesus 
Christ.' 

It  will  be  remarked,  even  from  tlic  Synod's 
avowalj  that  its  answer  is  conformed  to  the 
diplomatic  note  emanating  from  the  minister 
of  foreign  affaii\s.  It  is  useless  to  ask  if  the 
Synod  dictated  the  note,  or  the  Minister  the 
reply.  Besides,  the  Synod  was  obliged  to  lean 
to  the  side  of  concession ;  it  could  not,  without 
condemning  itself,  pronounce  anathema  against 
its  own  founder. 

As  a  sequel  to  these  three  important  docu- 
ments, let  us  farther  reproduce  the  article  of 
the  Moscov:  Gazette : 

*  We  this  day  jDublish  some  documents  of  a  very  ex- 
traordinary character.  They  are  the  letter  of  the  most  holy 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  to  the  most  holy  Synod  of 
Kussia,  and  the  reply  of  the  latter.  We  have  called  these 
documents  extraordinary ;  and  truly,  who  is  there  that  re- 
members the  publication  of  any  relations  whatsoever  of 
general  interest  between  the  Eussian  hierarchy  and  the 
other  branches  of  the  oecumenical  Church  ?  In  different 
countries  there  exist  Churches,  calling  themselves  Oriental 
Catholic  j  but  between  them  there  is  no  bond  or  settled 
relations.  They  have  no  organisation  vindicating  to  them 
their  oecumenical  character.  We  see  Churches  which,  alas ! 


246 


The  Synod, 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


247 


already  begin  profoundly  to  differ  from  one  another  in 
their  modes  of  regarding  many  very  essential  objects ;  but 
an  oecumenical  Church  such  as  each  of  these  ought  to  be 
exists  only  in  an  idea  ever  receding  into  obscurity,  and 
losing  all  connection  with  reality.  This  is  the  great  ques- 
tion which  long  ago  made  itself  felt  within  our  Church, 
and  which  will  soon  appear  in  all  its  strength.  We  must 
be  prepared  for  it.  'Tis  time  that  the  zealots  of  our  Church 
cease  to  see  in  her  only  a  national  institution ;  to  recall 
to  themselves  her  oecumenical  character  constituting  her 
essence,  which  is  above  and  more  precious  than  all  the 
rest.  The  Church  of  Christ  and  orthodoxy  must  not  be 
made  to  consist  in  the  peculiarities  of  an  organisation 
constituted  in  this  or  that  country,  under  the  influence  of 
different  circumstances  often  the  most  unfavourable;  or 
also  in  things  accidental,  which  often  darken  and  disfigure 
the  essence  of  religion,  and  in  every  case  have  nothing  in 
common  with  her;  or  in  the  architectural  character  of 
churches,  in  the  form  of  images,  in  the  number  of  buttons 
on  sacerdotal  vestments ;  or  again,  in  the  mode  of  joining 
the  fingers  of  the  hand  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross ;  or 
again,  in  the  educational  establishments  for  the  daughters 
of  the  clergy  (as  if  children,  or,  in  general,  persons  not  in 
fact  attached  to  the  service  of  the  altar,  could  form  a  part 
of  the  clergy) ;  finally,  in  a  clergy  understood  in  the  sense 
of  a  caste  and  race  apart. 

But  we  have  no  intention  to  touch  to-day  on  great  ec- 
clesiastical questions,  nor  even  to  examine  the  proceeding 
between  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  and  the  fallen 
Hospodar  of  the  Danubian  Principalities.  We  wish  to  call 
attention  to  but  a  single  circumstance  which  thi'ows  a  very 
bright  light  on  our  own  afiairs.  The  correspondence  of  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  with  our  Synod  is  preceded 
by  an  official  statement  of  the  events  which  gave  rise  to 
it.     We  see  developed  the  long  series  of  violent  and  ma- 


levolent measures  of  the  ex-Hospodar  of  Moldavia  and 
WaUachia,  which  sought  to  humble  and  overthrow  the 
orthodox  Church.  Not  content  with  subjecting  the  Church 
and  hierarchy  to  all  imaginable  oppressions,  Prince  Couza 
aimed  at  destroying  the  dominant  Church  in  its  root,  i.e. 
in  the  formation  of  its  clergy.     Taking  care  to  organise  in 
the  best  possible  manner  the  Eoman  CathoUc  seminaries, 
he  applied  himself  at  the  same  time  to  give  to  the  orthodox 
seminaries  the  worst  organisation  possible ;   he  forbade 
them  instruction  in  the  ancient  languages,  "  with  the  ob- 
ject of  placing  the  orthodox  clergy  on  a  comparatively 
lower  educational  level  than  that  of  the  Latin  clergy."  The 
official  statement  forming  the  introduction  to  the  docu- 
ments calls  attention  to  this  circumstance,  as  crowning  the 
series  of  malevolent  measures  taken  by  the  ex-Hospodar. 
Without  question.  Prince  Couza  knew  what  he  was  about 
He  did  not  hide  his  designs.     He  acted  as  an  enemy,  and 
his  acts  corresponded— none  better— to  his  intentions. 
His  adversaries  had  every  reason  to  point  out  in  their 
indictment  this  systematic  deterioration  of  the  houses  of 
education,  which  he  had  deprived  of  the  classic  languages 
as  the  most  pedagogic  and  palpable  of  means.     But  in  at- 
tacking Prince  Couza  in  this  fashion,  what  shaU  we  say  of 
ourselves  1     He  acted  as  an  enemy,  he  wished  to  destroy 
all  instruction  of  the  orthodox  clergy ;  and  to  this  end,  as 
the  official  statement  justly  observes,  he  took  away  from 
the  orthodox  seminaries  the  foundation  of  a  classical  edu- 

Kiation. 

Why  then,  we  ask,  is  absolutely  the  same  thing  done 
in  Eussia '?  If  the  acts  of  the  minister  of  worship  and 
public  instruction  in  Koumania  become  a  ground  for  accu- 
sation ;  if  we  see  these  malevolent  and  hostile  acts ;  what 
must  be  said  of  the  reforms  our  seminaries  underwent  in 
1840,  and  our  gymnasia  in  1848]  What  of  the  efforts 
made  even  to-day  to  maintain  our  houses  of  education  in 


248 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


249 


the  situation  created  by  these  reforms,  to  alter  the  new 
Eegulation,  the  promulgation  of  which  encountered  so  many- 
difficulties — not  to  allow  its  application  in  those  establish- 
ments where  is  trained  a  youth  thoroughly  Eussian  and 
orthodox  ?   What  must  every  reflecting  man  think  on  see- 
ing that  this  new  Eegulation,  which  ought  to  give  to  in- 
struction among  us  the  bases  recognised  by  the  whole 
civilised  world,  is  put  in  operation  in  provinces  of  the 
West ;  whilst  at  Moscow  even  the  gymnasia  are  condemned 
to  languish  in  a  sad  state  of  transition,  and,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  seem  destined  to  remain  in  this  state  during 
five  whole  years,  with  the  prospect  at  the  end  of  that  time 
of  being  able  to  modify  or  even  abrogate  the  new  Eegula- 
tion ? 

-As  to  what  respects  our  ecclesiastical  schools,  not  ex- 
cepting the  highest,  we  can  positively  aver  that  Prince 
Couza  would  have  been  perfectly  satisfied ;  he  would  have 
found  nothing  to  change  in  order  to  attain  the  end  he  was 
pursuing  with  so  much  method,  decision,  and  freedom. 
Here  everything  Prince  Couza  could  have  done  has  been 
done,  and  much  even  beyond.  And  now,  when  the  evil 
is  being  proved,  and  the  acts  of  a  foreign  government 
unmasked  to  reveal  it,  are  we  making  serious  efforts  to 
remedy  it  1  What  right,  then,  have  we  to  attack  Prince 
Couza  V 

Tlie  eminent  publicist  who  so  brilliantly 
conducts  the  Moscow  Gazette  sets  himself  to 
bring  out  a  single  point ;  but  if  any  one  will 
give  himself  the  trouble  to  read  his  article  with 
a  little  attention,  he  will  easily  be  convinced 
that  the  apostrophe  with  which  he  concludes 
it  covers  not  only  iho  classical  studies  in  the 
seminaries,  but  every  reproach  flung  at  Prince 


Couza.  This  work,  which  rouses  so  much  in- 
dignation in  the  Phanar^  and  which  the  North- 
ern Post  so  severely  lashes,  is  after  all  but  a 
very  poor  counterfeit  of  Peter  I.'s  work. 

In  presence  of  M.  Katkoff 's  vigorous  rea- 
soning, let  us  place  a  few  of  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  by  M.  Wassilieff,  in  his  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  Nantes. 

1.  '  The  first  part  of  my  reply  has  estab- 
lished that  it  is  not  possible,  without  offending 
against  theology  and  canon  law,  to  assert  that 
a  disciplinary  change  in  a  Church  is  a  change 
in  the  constitution  of  that  Church. 

2.  ^  I  have  had  the  honour  of  proving  to 
you  that  the  government  of  a  Church  by  means 
of  a  council,  is  of  all  forms  the  most  ancient 
and  canonical. 

3.  '  You  have  aflfirmed  that  the  holy  Synod 
was  established  exclusively  by  the  sovereign 
of  Eussia,  and  for  the  purpose  of  enslaving  the  ) 
Church  of  his  empire :  I  have  proved  to  you/ 
that  it  was  otherwise.     Eelying  on  facts  and^ 
authentic  documents,  I  have  demonstrated  that  j 
Peter  the  Great  took  part  in  the  establishment^ 
of  the  holy  Synod  only  in  a  measure  prope: 
to  a  sovereign  careful  of  his  public  independ^ 
ence— to  a  Christian  sovereign  having  the  right 
to  share  in  the  creation  of  an  ecclesiastical  in- 
stitution, in  what  concerns  its  civil  and  ex-y 


250 


The  Synod, 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


251 


Oternal  existence I  have  farther  proved, 
In  a  solid  manner,  that  the  Eussian  bishops 
took  their  due  part  in  the  establishment  of  the 
holy  Synod,  both  by  the  counsels  they  gave 
/for  its  establishment,  and  by  the  drawing  up 
and  approval  of  the  organic  statute  of  this  per- 
manent council. 

4.  '  You  have  affirmed  that  the  approval 
asked  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  was 
too  late,  and  a  pure  formality :  I  have  given 
incontestable  proofs  that,  immediately  after  the 
convocation  of  the  holy  Synod,  the  sanction 
of  all  the  Oriental  patriarchs  was  sincerely  and 
respectfully  requested ;  that  it  was  canonically 
accorded  with  independence,  and  with  the  least 
possible  delay.'* 

If  Prince  Couza,  in  the  leisure  afforded  him 
by  the  instability  of  human  affairs,  seeks  con- 
solation in  the  perusal  of  M.  Wassilieff 's  pam- 
phlet, the  page  we  have  just  quoted  can  excite 
in  his  heart  only  the  most  poignant  regrets. 
Had  he  but  known  M.  Wassilieff  some  years 
sooner,  what  a  theologian,  what  a  canonist,  what 
an  advocate  might  he  have  found  in  him !  How 
the  learned  archpriest  would  have  kept  in  his 
place  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  with  his 
council  of  deposed  and  non-deposed  patriarchs, 
and  the  archimandrite  Cleobulus  himself !  How 

*  Dlscus£ion,  Sec,  pp.  50,  51. 


he  would  have  shown  to  the  Northern  Post  that 
it  knew  not  what  it  was  saying !  and  how  he 
would  have  obliged  M.  Katkoff  to  confess  that 
he  was  speaking  of  things  he  did  not  under- 
stand, when  he  allowed  himself  to  talk  with  so 
much  irreverence  on  the  subject  of  the  eccle- 
siastical schools,  even  the  highest,  i.  e.  the 
academies  !  M.  Wassilieff  would  even  have 
proved  to  the  Synod  that,  if  his  conclusion  was 
reasonable,  he  had  advanced  among  the  grounds 
of  it  propositions  singularly  bold,  which  could 
not  be  sustained  without  doing  violence  to 
theology  and  canonical  law. 

We  will  now  leave  Prince  Couza  to  his 
regrets,  and  M.  Wassilieff  to  the  contests  with 
his  numerous  antagonists,  and  go  at  once  to 
the  heart  of  the  question. 

Here  we  must  carefully  distinguish  theory 
from  practice.  As  we  have  been  able,  by  the 
numerous  documents  we  have  cited,  to  satisfy 
ourselves,  in  a  theoretical  point  of  view,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Oriental  Church  touching  the 
distinction  of  the  two  powers  and  the  Church's 
independence  is  perfectly  correct.  Take,  for 
example,  M.  Wassilieff.  He  defends  the  in- 
stitution of  the  Synod  in  Kussia,  but  is  con- 
vinced that  it  is  the  work  of  the  Eussian  Church 
herself,  and  of  the  oecumenical  Church,  acting 
in  the  plenitude  of  their  liberty  and  independ- 


252 


The  Synod. 


Chap,  y 


II  • 


ence.  Peter  I.,  'tis  true,  counts  there  for  some- 
thing, but  merely  gives  his  concurrence  to  the 
decisions  of  the  Church.  M.  Wassilieff  also 
admits  the  part  assigned  to  the  chief  procurator 
of  the  Synod,  but  in  him  he  sees  only  a  bene- 
factor and  servant  of  this  ecclesiastical  assem- 
bly; and  if  this  servant  ever  took  upon  himself 
to  assume  any  authority,— if  he  raised  his  voice, 
if  he  undertook  to  counteract  the  deliberations 
of  the  Synod,  or  if  he  so  far  forgot  himself  as 
to  close  the  discussion  and  raise  the  sitting- 
he  who  is  so  little  the  president  of  the  Synod 
as  not  to  be  a  member  of  it,— the  learned  arch- 
priest  would  be  ready  to  say  to  him,  '  Sir,  you 
interfere  with  what  does  not  concern  you.  The 
most  holy  assembly,  of  which  you  are  not  a 
member,  desires  to  be  alone  in  closing  its  de- 
liberations :  go;  when  it  needs  you,  it  will  call 
for  you.' 

The  holy  Synod  invites  the  bishops  hold- 
ing their  nominations  of  the  lay  authorities  to 
confront  the  30th  canon  of  the  holy  Apostles. 
Now  this  canon  runs  thus :  Si  quis  episcopm 
scecularibiis  potestatibus  usus  ecclesiam  per  ipsas 
obtineat^  deponatiir  et  segregetur^  et  omnes  qui 
illi  communicant^     He  is  therefore  convinced 

*  Ei  rls  iiriffKOTTos  koct/lkois  apxoicn  xPVf^^F^^vos,  &c.  Hefele,  voL 
i.  p.  183.  We  have  already  remarked  that  the  text  of  this  canon 
sufficiently  proves  that  it  is  not  of  apostolic  origin ;  but  it  has  been 
sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  the  Oriental  Church,  and  still  has- 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


253 


that,  among  all  the  bishops  with  whom  he  is 
in  communion,  there  is  not  one  who  has  had 
recourse  to  the  secular  power  to  obtain  a  bi- 
shopric. We  need  not  cite  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  whose  language  is  very  strong. 
When,  then.  Catholic  or  Protestant  writers 
advance  that  the  Russian  Church  recournises 
the  Eussian  emperor  as  its  hierarchical  head, 
they  are  utterly  in  error.  The  Eussian  em- 
perors are  laymen,  and  have  no  place  in  the 
hierarchy.  It  is  true  that  Paul  I.,  confound- 
ing the  consecration  of  emperors  with  sacer- 
dotal ordination,  thought  himself  a  priest.  He 
one  day  wished  to  say  Mass,  and  was  success- 
fully turned  from  his  purpose  only  by  being 
reminded  that,  having  been  twice  married,  he 
was  on  this  account  disqualified  for  the  service 
of  the  altar.  But  here  was  the  whim  of  an 
individual;  although,  however,  some  trace  of 
exaggeration  could  be  found  elsewhere*  respect- 
ing the  consecration  of  the  anointed  of  the  Lord 
and  of  His  Christs. 

In  the  Byzantine  Church  we  find,  with  re- 
spect to  the  emperors  of  the  lower  empire,  for- 
mularies too  obsequious,  and  a  condescension 

the  force  of  law.  *  If  any  bishop,  making  use  of  the  secular  powers, 
obtain  a  church  through  them,  let  him  be  deposed  and  separated, 
and  all  who  communicate  with  him.* 

*  In  the  Office  of  Orthodoxy.    See  Tondini ;    TJie  Pope,  &c. 
pp.  102-103. 


/^ 


254 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


which  is  exaggerated.  The  doctrine  of  the 
outside  hisltop'^  received  there  too  great  an  ex- 
tension; but  this  very  expression  shows  that 
the  emperors  are  outside  the  hierarchy,  and 
have  no  place  therein;  and  it  may  be  said  that 
on  this  point,  as  on  many  others,  the  doctrine 
of  the  Oriental  Church  has  not  been  altered, 
her  principles  have  not  been  sacrificed. 

We  have  spoken  here  only  of  theory.  If 
we  pass  to  her  practice,  we  find  ourselves  in 
presence  of  a  very  different  situation.  Under 
the  Byzantine  emperors,  as  from  the  time  of 
the  old  Tsars  of  Muscovy,  we  can  verify,  on 
the  part  of  the  temporal  sovereign,  exaggerated 
pretensions,  and  encroachments  of  the  lay  power 
on  the  ecclesiastical  domains;  but  this  shows 
itself  more  or  less  everywhere.  The  Greek 
Church,  like  the  Eussian,  can  be  reproached 
with  a  certain  softness,  a  certain  want  of  energy 
in  presence  of  these  pretensions  and  encroach- 
ments of  the  civil  power, — of  fits  of  weakness 
more  or  less  frequent;  but  strictly  speaking, 

*  Eusebius,  in  1.  iv.  c.  xxiv.  of  his  Life  of  Constantine,  says  of 
the  Emperor  Constantine  :  '  Wherefore,  when  once  receiving  us  (the 
bishops)  at  table,  he  said  in  our  hearing  that  he  also  was  a  bi- 
shop, using  these  words :  *'  You  are  bishops  of  those  rvitldn  the 
Church  ;  but  I  too  have  been  appointed  by  God  a  bishop  of  those 
outside  the  Church."  And,  remembering  his  words,  I  observed  that 
he  governed  all  beneath  his  sway  with  episcopal  solicitude,  and 
urged  them  by  every  means  in  his  power  to  pursue  the  path  of 
true  piety.'  (Tfans.) 


Chap.  v. 


The  Synod, 


255 


all  this  can  be  considered  as  accidental  and 
transitory.  Undoubtedly  the  Tsar  Alexis  de- 
posed the  Patriarch  Nicon,  but  he  had  recourse 
to  the  intervention  of  a  council  attended  by 
the  Oriental  patriarchs.  Moreover,  this  de- 
position was  regarded  by  contemporaries  as  a 
great  iniquity.  It  was  one  of  the  first  cares 
of  Alexis's  son  and  successor  to  repair  it ;  and 
Alexis  himself,  when  dying,  overcome  by  re- 
morse, requested  pardon  of  the  deposed  pa- 
triarch. A  violation  of  a  law  does  not  abolish 
it,  and  a  right  is  not  destroyed  because  it  has 
been  forgotten. 

From  all  these  considerations,  we  hesitate 
not  to  say  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Oriental 
Church  nowhere  recognises  in  the  prince,  we 
do  not  say  the  head  of  the  Universal  Church, 
but  not  even  the  head  of  a  particular  Church. 
Must  we  from  this  conclude  that  M.  Wassilieff 
is  right,  and  that  the  Eussian  Church,  for  ex- 
ample, is  in  possession  of  its  independence? 
This  is  not  what  we  wish  to  say ;  but  to  pre- 
sent this  delicate  and  complicated  question  fully 
and  clearly,  we  must  enter  into  some  detail. 

We  will  begin  by  examining  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  authority  assumed  by  the 
emperors  of  Eussia,  and  expressed  by  the  term 
autocracy ;  and  here  we  specially  have  in  view 
Peter  I.  and  his  successors.   We  are  compelled 


256 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


to  admit  that  they  arrogate  to  themselves  an 
authority  that  does  not  belong  to  them;  but 
let  us  carefully  note,  that  this  follows  from  the 
idea  which  they  form  of  their  power,  not  from 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  which  they  are 
part.  They  assume  the  same  rights  in  pre- 
sence of  all  Churches  and  all  confessions ;  and 
whilst  professing  to  respect  the  dogmas  of  all 
confessions — whether  Christian  _or  not — they 
claim'to  Tiave  the  upp'ef "hahd^ey^rywhere  in 
the  government  of  religious  as  of  civil  society. 
Catherine  II.  very  well  expressed  this  idea  in 
her  ukase  of  August  12,  1762,  on  the  goods 
of  the  clergy.  Speaking  of  her  predecessors, 
she  there  says,  among  other  things,  that  they, 
'  like  all  monarchs,  received  from  God  the  prin- 
cipal authority  in  the  Church:  One  might  fancy 
he  heard  the  echo  of  St.  Irenoeus's  voice  claim- 
ing for  the  bishops  of  Eome  potiorem  princi- 

palitatem. 

Let  us  now  listen  to  Peter  I.  as  he  seeks  to 
justify  the  establishment  of  the  Synod.  '  Mo- 
narchs,' says  he,  '  although  they  possess  an 
absolute  power,  since,  according  to  the  Divine 
precept,  an  unhesitating  obedience  is  due  to 
them,  employ  councillors,  not  only  for  better 
getting  at  the  truth,  but  also  for  stopping  the 
calumnies  of  perverse  men,  who  would  ascribe 
this  or  that  order  of  the  sovereign  to  violence 


The  Synod. 


257 


I 


r\ 


and  passion,  rather  than  to  the  right  and  legi- 
timate cause.  This  applies  still  more  to  eccle^ 
siastical  government,  which  is  deprived  of  a/ii 
absolute  and  independent  power ^  since  domina-^ 
tion  over  the  clergy  is  forbidden  even  to  thosq/ 
who  hold  the  helm  of  the  Church.'*  ^ 

Confounding,  by  a  clever  sophism,  the  spirit 
of  domination  with  authority^  Peter  laid  it  down 
that  those  who  are  at  the  helm  of  the  Church, 
viz.  the  bishops,  metropolitans,  patriarchs,  &c. 
— in  a  word,  the  pastors — are  without  inde- 
pendent authority.  According  to  him,  supreme/ 
auth(^Ttj^  in  Church_^^overnment,-.as_  in  civil' 
society,  belongs  to  the  sovereign,  whom  aU 
oitghl^iii-everythiHg  ip  obey  without  murmur- 
ing. This  settled,  he  finds  it  convenient  that 
the  sovereign,  should  be  surrounded  with  ecdle- 
jgiastical^i^mincillors,  to  aid  him  in  governibg 
the  -Qmi^chi  but  jhey  are""^6nly  councillors^  aiid 
the  a:ut}iority,.intrusted  to  them  they  hold; of 
him,  and  are  accountable  for  it^  proper  exqr- 

*  ...  *  Monarcha3  etiam,  quamvis  absoluta  gaudeant  potentid-, 
quippe  quibus,  secundum  divinum  prreceptum,  obedientia  citra 
reclamationem  debetur,  a  consiliariis  tamen,  non  eo  solum  fine,  ut 
in  veritate  inv^estiganda  felicius  proficiant,  sed  ne  homines  quoquo 
pervicaces  hoc  aut  illud  per  vim  potius  et  ex  affectu,  quam  jure  et 
legitime  a  monarchis  pracipi  calumnientur,  minime  abhorrent.  Id 
autem  magis  quadrat  in  ecclesiasticum  regimen,  utpote  absoluta 
et  independente  potentia  destitutum  adeo  ut  ipsi  quoque  Ecclesius 
gubernacula  tenenti  dominatio  in  clerum  denegetur.'  {Statutum 
Canonicum  Petri  Magni,  Petropoli,  1785,  pp.  11,  12.) 

S 


258 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


€hap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


259 


cisejta Juffi.„^Tbese  principki?^  show  thgmselves, 
•imder  all  forms,  at  the  bottom  of  Bussian  legis- 
lation.    Thence  springs  the  right  of  naming 
and  displacing  bishops,  and  the  complete  and 
absolute  dependence  of  the  whole  hierarchy  on 
the  sovereign.     Thence,  moreover,  in  matters 
ecclesiastical,  the  concentration  of  the  exercise 
of  legislative  authority  in  the  hands  of  the  em- 
peror.    No  ecclesiastical  authority  in  the  Eus- 
sian  clergy,  however  exalted,  can  promulgate, 
modify,  suspend,  or  abrogate  any  ecclesiastical 
law,  without  the  emperor's  consent  and  sanc- 
tion.   On  the  contrary,  it  suffices,  in  order  that 
a  law  of  the   emperor's  on   an   ecclesiastical 
matter  may  become  obligatory,  that  it  have 
received  the  countersign  of  the  Synod.     This 
countersign  would  have  the  force  of  a  guaran- 
tee, if  it  emanated  from  an  independent  au- 
thority ;  but  the  organisation  and  mechanism 
of  the  Synod  being  such  as  we  have  described 
them,  it  is  simply  a  formality. 

Not  only,  as  we  have  said,  is  it  in  respect 
of  the  national  and  official  Church  that  the 
Eussian  government  claims  this  authority,  but 
also  in  respect  of  all  religions.  Hence  the  in- 
surmountable difficulties  in  the  construction, 
and  above  all  in  the  enforcement,  of  concordats 
with  the  Holy  See.  From  the  point  of  view  of 
the  Eussian  government,  the  supreme  author- 


1 


ity  over  the  Catholic  Church  in  Eussia  sub- 
stantially resides  in  the  emperor.  He  is  quite 
willing  that  the  Mass  be  said  in  Latin,  that  the 
Filioque  be  inserted  in  the  symbol,  that  un- 
leavened bread  be  used,  that  the  communion 
be  in  one  kind  only ;  but  these  concessions 
made,  he  sincerely  believes  he  has  the  right  to 
rule  the  Catholic  Church  in  his  States,  the 
Protestant  and  Armenian,  just  as  the  national 
Church.  He  applies  the  same  principles  to 
Jews,  Mussulmans,  and  Buddhists;  and  this 
equality  of  all  religions  before  imperial  supre- 
macy constitutes  what  is  in  Eussia  called 
toleration.  As  is  witnessed,  a  perpetual  mis- 
understanding and  radical  opposition  exists 
between  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  Eussian 

autocracy. 

The  two  powers  speak  a  different  language ; 
the  same  words  in  their  lips  have  not  the  same 
signification.  For  our  part,  we  are  ready  to 
admit  that  there  may  be  in  Eussia  those  who 
persecute  the  Catholic  Church,  and  labour  to 
destroy  it,  whilst  quite  persuaded  that,  with  a 
certain  degree  of  good  faith,  they  are  the  most 
tolerant  men  in  the  world. 

"We  can  now  see  how  we  are  to  understand 
the  position  maintained  by  M.  Wassilieff,  viz. 
^  The  first  part  of  my  reply  has  proved  to  you 


260 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


that  it  is  not  permitted,  without  doing  violence 
to  theology  and  canon  law,  to  aflarm  that  a 
change  of  discipline  in  a  Church  is  a  change 
of  the  constitution  of  that  Church '  (op.  cit. 
p.  50).  M.  Wassilieff  is  here  speaking  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Synod.  What  he  calls  a 
change  of  discipline  is  not  only  a  change  in  the 
constitution  of  the  Church,  but  the  destruction 
of  this  constitution,  the  substitution  of  the  im- 
perial poAver  for  the  ecclesiastical  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church. 

We  cited  above  the  formula  of  oath  taken 
by  the  members  of  the  Synod.  It  will  be  re- 
collected that  in  it  they  declared  that  the  em- 
peror is  supreme  judge  in  that  assembly.  M. 
Wassilieif  gives  himself  much  trouble  to  assign 
to  this  inconvenient  text  an  acceptable  sense. 
He  supposes  the  formula  of  oath  taken  by  the 
members  to  be  composed  of  two  parts  ;  in  the 
first,  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Church  is  taken; 
in  the  second,  to  the  sovereign.  He  thence 
concludes  that  '  the  words  quoted  relate  to  the 
members  of  the  Holy  Synod  only  in  their 
quality  of  subjects,  of  dignitaries  of  the  State, 
of  members  of  a  mixed  assembly,  having  a 
double  character— religious  and  civil?  We 
have  already  observed  that  the  members  of  the 
Synod  do  not  recognise  the  emperor  as  their 


Ohap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


261 


judge — an  avowal  not  asked  of  them — but  as 
judge  of  the  Synod,  supremum  hnjusce  collegii 
judicem^  which  admits  of  no  equivocation  what- 
ever. This  means  that  an  appeal  can  be  made 
from  the  Synod  to  the  emperor,  and  to  him 
only.  N'ow,  the  Synod  is  the  highest  author- 
ity existing  in  the  Eussian  Church ;  to  it  all 
owe  submission  and  obedience;  it  holds  the 
place  of  patriarch.  According  to  the  letter  of 
Jeremiah,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  it  has  a 
power  equal  to  that  of  each  of  the  four  patri- 
archates; and  yet  it  is  under  the  emperor's 
jurisdiction.  After  this  it  is  difiicult  to  dis- 
pute the  emperor's  exercise  of  authority  over 
the  Church. 

When  Peter  I.  caused  his  son  to  be  tried 
and  condemned,  before  the  sentence  was  pro-  , 
nounced  he  requested  a  consultation  with  the 
clergy.  We  have  the  account  of  this :  it  is 
dated  June  18th,  1718,  and  is  signed  by  eight 
bishops  and  six  archimandrites,  of  whom  seve- 
ral are  found  among  the  signataries  of  the  eccle- 
siastical statute  and  the  first  members  of  the 
Synod.  We  there  read  this  passage:  ^Who 
has  made  us  judges  of  those  who  exercise  au- 
thority over  us  ?  How  can  the  members  in- 
struct the  h^ad,  which  ought  to  instruct  and 
govern  them  ?'  The  members  are  the  bishops ; 
the  head  is  the  Tsar ;  and  from  beginning  to 


262 


The  Synod. 


Chap,  v.. 


end  of  this  remarkable  document  the  members 
speak  like  bishops.'^ 

M.  Wassilieff  does  not  wish  it  to  be  said 
that  the  Eussian  Church  is  subject  to  the  civil 
power ;  he  is  right.  It  can  be  said  that  the 
Church  of  Constantinople  is  subject  to  the  sul- 
tan ;  but  in  spite  of  the  oppression  burdening 
her,  we  yet  recognise  in  her  a  distinct  society^ 
with  her  own  spirit,  legislation,  traditions,  and 
magistrates :  she  wears  chains,  but  still  lives. 
In  Eussia  the  situation  is  wholly  dijfferent. 
The  Church  has  no  life  of  its  own  :  in  every- 
thing she  receives  impulse  from  without.  The 
clergy  wear  mitres  and  copes  ;  this  is  the  one 
respect  distinguishing  them  from  the  other 
functionaries  of  the  State.  The  Eussian  Church 
is  not  subjected^  she  is  absorbed  by  the  State  : 
she  is  an  inert  instrument,  a  body  without  a 

soul. 

Between  her  and  the  old  Eussian  Church 

there  is  no  identity ;  they  are  two  things  en- 

*  A  characteristic  detail  confirms  our  view.  In  the  annual 
report  published  by  the  chief  procurator  of  the  Synod,  mention  is 
made  of  the  new  privileges  just  granted  to  the  bishops.  Hence- 
forth they  will  be  able  to  absent  themselves  from  theii-  dioceses 
for  eight  days,  oa  simply  giving  notice  to  the  Synod,  and  without 
waiting  for  its  permission ;  with  the  Synod's  authorisation,  they 
will  be  able  to  absent  themselves  for  twenty-nine  days ;  for  a 
longer  absence  the  imperial  decision  must  be  asked.  How  clearly 
do  we  dis5cem  the  hierarchy  through  this  arrangement :  for  eight 
days,  the  bishop ;  for  a  month,  the  Synod ;  for  six  weeks  or  ihree^ 
months,  the  emperor.    This  is  at  once  ridiculous  and  odious. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


263 


tirely  distinct,  whose  resemblance  is  altogether 

external. 

Peter  I.  effected  a  religious  revolution  com- 
parable only  to  that  accomplished  in  England 
by  Henry  VIII.  and  Elizabeth  ;  he  did  in  Eus- 
sia what  Prince  Couza  attempted  in  Eoumania. 
To  be  convinced  of  this  we  have  but  to  repro- 
duce an  extract  from  the  annual  report  recently 
presented  to  the  emperor  by  Count  Dmitri  Tol- 
stoy, the  present  chief  procurator  of  the  Synod. 
See,  first  of  all,  how  he  appreciates  the  acts  of 
the  old  Hospodar :     '  Prince  Couza,'  says  the 
report,  '  who  evidently  proposed  to  draw  the 
people  into  union  with  the  Latin  Church,  and 
separate  them  from  the  patriarchal  see  of  Con- 
stantinople, proclaimed,  arbitrarily  and  in  con- 
tempt of  the  laws,  the  Eoumain  Church  to  be 
independent  of  all  foreign  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity. At  the  same  time  he  stripped  this  Church, 
feigned  to  be  independent,  of  the  degree  of  in- 
dependence always  enjoyed  in  her  internal  ad- 
ministration.    The  General  Synod  created  by 
the  Hospodar's  decree,  and  destined  to  central- 
ise in  its  own  bosom  the  high  administration 
of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  has  been  placed  in  com- 
plete dependence  on  the  laity.     The  right  to 
convoke  and  dissolve  this   assembly  was   as- 
sumed by  the  Hospodar ;  the  choice  of  bishops 
and  metropolitans  he  confided  to  his  ministers, 


li  > 
1 1 


264 


TJie  Synod. 


Cliap.  V. 


Ohap.  v. 


Tlie  Synod. 


265 


reserving  to  himself  their  confirmation.     The 
ties  of  dependence  binding  the  clergy  to  the 
diocesan  bishop  were  relaxed;  houses  of  in- 
struction subjected  to  a  reform  which  deprived 
aspirants  to  the  priesthood  of  the  possibility  of 
receiving  a  sufficient  theological  education  ;  to 
those  who  felt  themselves  called  to  the  religious 
life,  such  excessively  troublesome  conditions 
were  opposed  as  almost  to  amount  to  a  bar  to 
their  embracing  the  monastic  state ;  civil  mar- 
riage was  recognised  as  legal,  &c.' — This  obvi- 
ously is  the  counterpart  of  Peter  I.'s  acts.    The 
chief  procurator  is  naturally  averse  to  admit  it ; 
and  hence  he  sets  himself  to  indicate  the  differ- 
ence.   In  his  reply  to  the  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
.  tinople,  he  says,  in  the  same  report,  the  holy 
Synod  has  set  the  facts  in  their  true  light.   Thus 
did  Prince  Couza  support  himself  on  an  error 
as  to  the  Kussian  patriarch  having  been  replaced 
by  a  Synod,  in  virtue  of  the  will  of  the  emperor 
Peter  I.,  and  as  to  our  method  of  nominating 
bishops.   It  has  been  shown  that  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Synod  took  place  with  the  bene- 
diction of  all  the  Oriental  patriarchs ;  that  in 
Kussia,  even  now,  the  bishops  select  the  candi- 
dates for  the  episcopate,  and  that  'tis  only  after 
this  selection  that  one  of  the  candidates  is  con- 
firmed by  the  supreme  authority  {i.  e.  the  em- 
peror's). 


In  what,  then,  consists  the  difference,  ac- 
cording to  Count  Dmitri  Tolstoy  ?     First,  in 
this,  that  the  order  of  things  founded  by  Peter 
I.  received  the  sanction  of  the  Oriental  patri- 
archs, and,  secondly,  that  the  episcopal  nomi- 
nations are  sanctioned  by  the  choice  of  the 
Synod.  We  willingly  recognise  that  this  double 
difference  would  be  capital,  if  in  either  case 
there  were  anything  more  than  a  formality,  an 
empty  image.     But  in  presence  of  the  facts,  it 
is  impossible  not  to  see  that,  if  external  forms 
seem  to  have  been  preserved,  in  reality  every- 
thing has  been  changed.    Prince  Couza's  Gene- 
ral Synod  had  even  more  independence  than 
Peter's  governing  Synod :  events  have  proved 
it.     Count  Tolstoy  says  that  the  Hospodar  ar- 
rogated to  himself  the  right  of  convoking  and 
dissolving  the  General  Synod :  we  have  shown 
that  the  Eussian  Synod  can  oppose  no  resist- 
4ince  to  the  emperor's  wishes,  since  it  depends 
on  him  to  call  to  or  dismiss  from  the  Synod 
whom  he  please  ;  and  none  knows  better  than 
the  chief  procurator,  unless  it  be  the  Synod  it- 
self, that  the  emperor  is  not  scrupulous  in  his 
•choice  of  bishops. 

Now  as  to  the  approval  given  by  the  Ori- 
ental patriarchs  to  the  establishment  of  the 
Synod.  We  are  well  aware  that  there  was  a 
;sham-council  in  Eussia  and  a  sham-approba- 


I': 


\ 


266 


The  Synod. 


\ 


Cliap.  V. 


tion  on  the  part  of  tlic  Orieutal  patriarclis ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  neither  the  council  nor 
the  patriarchs  freely  pronounced  themselves. 
In  an  article  published  September  8th,  1862,  by 
the  Ecclesiastical  Talk*  under  the  signature  of 
Father  Athanasius,  it  is  said,  in  reference  to 
this  council :  '  Beyond  a  doubt  those  who  sat 
in  it  did  not  consent,  all,  and  at  once,  to  Peter's 
proposition,  ...  but  the  Tsar's  will,  sustained 
by  a  few  ecclesiastics,  gained  the  day'  (p.  221). 
Is^ow,  this  article,  although  it  bears  visible 
traces  of  the  author's  embarrassment,  is  on  the 
whole  favourable  to  Peter's  innovation,  and  is 
clothed  with  the  approbation  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal censorship :  the  acknowledgment,  therefore, 
has  importance.      What   Father    Athanasius 
says  of  Peter's  council,  we  in  oui-  turn  will  say 
of  the  approbation  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople :  'tis  a  pure  formality,  which  after  the 
fact  could  not  be  refused  to  the  puissant  em- 
peror who  had  vanquished  Charles  XII.  and 
whose  hoFts  inspired  the  Turks  with  terror, 
and  the  Greeks  with  hope.     We  may  well 
suppose  that  if  the  patriarch  had  been  con- 
sulted at  an  opportune  time,  and  especially  if 
he  had  not  had  to  deal  with  a  prince  whose 
power  bore  with  so  terrible  a  weight  in  the 
councils  of  the  Fhanar,  he  would  not  have  al- 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


267 


lowed  an  innovation,  so  unheard  of  in  the  an- 
nals of  the  Church,  to  pass  without  a  protest. 
The  approbation,  however,  does  not  legitimise 
Peter's  work;  it  proves  only  the  abasement  of 
the  Greek  Church.    Moreover,  we  have  shown 
by  dates  that  this  approval  was  given  only 
after  the  fact;  no  uneasiness  was  felt  at  the 
time  of  the  institution  of  the  Synod,  nor  was 
any  dreamt  of  until  the  whole  thing  was  done. 
This  revolution  was  the  work  of  Peter  solely, 
without  the  concurrence  of  the  Oriental  Church. 
Finally,  it  was  not  the  fii-st  time  that  the 
Tsars  requested  any  concession  and  signature 
of  the  Eastern  patriarchs :  there  were  prece- 
dents.    When  the  Ukraine  Church  was  severed 
from  the  Patriarchate  of  Constantinople,  to  be 
subjected  to  that  of  Moscow  (1685),  the  whole 
matter  was  directly  negotiated  and  concluded 
between  the  interested  parties,  without  any  in- 
tervention on  the  part  of  the  Bysantine  Church. 
The  hetman  Samoilovich,  fearing  excommuni- 
cation, demanded  that  the  consent  of  the_  Pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople  should  be  obtained. 
The  latter,  named  James,  and  Dositheus,  Pa- 
triarch of  Jerusalem,  began  by  refusing,  declar- 
in<-  that  to  consent  would  be  contrary  to  the 
rules  laid  down  by  the  holy  fathers.   The  Kus- 
sian  envoys  then  addressed  themselves  to  the 
Grand  Yizier,  who  declared  himself  charmed 


268 


The  Synod, 


Chap.  V. 


to  do  anything  agreeable  to  the  Tsar,  and  that 
he  would  at  once  issue  the  necessary  orders  to 
the  patriarchs.  Immediately  afterwards,  Dosi- 
theus  found  a  canon  which  he  had  not  known 
of,  and  which  rendered  perfectly  lawful  what 
had  hitherto  been  impossible.  In  the  interval 
James  had  been  deposed,  and  replaced  by  Dio- 
nysius,  who  had  before  filled  the  see  of  Con- 
stantinople. Dionysius  delivered  to  the  Kus- 
sian  envoys  all  the  necessary  papers,  and  re- 
ceived in  exchange  two  hundred  pieces  of  gold 
and  forty  skins  of  sable ;  Dositheus  also  had 
two  hundred  pieces  of  gold.  Dionysius,  be- 
sides, demanded  that  money  should  be  sent  to 
all  the  episcopal  signitaries  of  the  acts,  as  was 
done  in  the  time  of  the  Tsar  Feodore  Ivano- 
vich,  whose  liberality  was  extended  to  all  the 
bishops  taking  part  in  the  erection  of  the  Mos- 
cow patriarchate  (Solovieff,  History  of  Russia^ 
vol.  xiv.  p.  35).  'Twas  therefore  the  Grand 
Vizier's  will  and  Eussia's  gold  that  determined 
the  consent  of  the  patriarchs ;  motives  of  the 
same  kind  caused  the  official  recognition  of  the 
Synod. 

That  Peter  I.  was  more  skilful  than  Prince 
Couza,  we  readily  recognise ;  but  this  is  not  the 
question.  Nor  is  it  a  question  as  to  whether, 
in  the  organisation  of  the  Eussian  Church  in 
1721,  imperial  omnipotence  showed  itself  openly, 


Chap.  V. 


Tlie  Synod, 


269 


ki 


or  prudently  veiled  itself  in  a  simulated  garb. 
Was  the  Church  in  1721  stripped  of  her  legi- 
timate authority,  or  not  ?  This  is  the  question. 
Prince  Couza  in  Eoumania  tried  to  usurp  this 
authority.  We  admit  it,  and  subscribe  most 
cheerfully  to  the  judgment  passed  by  the  Pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople,  the  Eussian  Synod, 
the  chief  procurator  of  the  Synod,  and  the 
Northern  Post.  But  when  they  come  to  tell  us 
that  in  Eussia  the  Church  has  remained  inde- 
pendent, that  it  preserved  all  its  rightful  au- 
thority, we  cannot  accept  this  language,  but 
demonstrate  the  contrary  by  facts. 

It  is  very  easy  to  understand  that  a  Church 
thus  enslaved  ought  to  find  herself  in  a  state 
of  isolation  with  respect  to  the  other  Churches. 
This  M.  Katkoff  has  justly  observed.  Speak- 
ing of  the  different  Churches  of  the  Oriental 
communion,  he  says  they  have  no  bond  among 
them,  no  settled  relationship;  they  are  not 
parts  of  a  whole.  This  would  require  a  com- 
mon organisation,  which  would  bind  together 
their  scattered  members  and  make  of  them  one 
body.  There  can  be  no  unity  where  there  i& 
no  centre.  Let  this  centre  be  a  council,  a 
commission,  or  an  individual,  a  centre  is  indis- 
pensable.     Now,  this  centre  does  not  exist. 

Has  it,  at  least,  been  sought  to  supply  the 
place  of  these  regular  relations  by  exchange  of 


268 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


TJie  Synod, 


269 


to  do  anything  agreeable  to  the  Tsar,  and  that 
he  would  at  once  issue  the  necessary  orders  to 
the  patriarchs.  Immediately  afterwards,  Dosi- 
theus  found  a  canon  which  he  had  not  known 
of,  and  which  rendered  perfectly  lawful  what 
had  hitherto  been  impossible.  In  the  interval 
James  had  been  deposed,  and  replaced  by  Dio- 
nysius,  who  had  before  filled  the  see  of  Con- 
stantinople. Dionysius  delivered  to  the  Rus- 
sian envoys  all  the  necessary  papers,  and  re- 
ceived in  exchange  two  hundred  pieces  of  gold 
and  forty  skins  of  sable ;  Dositheus  also  had 
two  hundred  pieces  of  gold.  Dionysius,  be- 
sides, demanded  that  money  should  be  sent  to 
all  the  episcopal  signitaries  of  the  acts,  as  was 
done  in  the  time  of  the  Tsar  Feodore  Ivano- 
vich,  whose  liberality  was  extended  to  all  the 
bishops  taking  part  in  the  erection  of  the  Mos- 
cow patriarchate  (Solovieff,  History  of  Russia^ 
vol.  xiv.  p.  35).  'Twas  therefore  the  Grand 
Vizier's  will  and  Eussia's  geld  that  determined 
the  consent  of  the  patriarchs ;  motives  of  the 
same  kind  caused  the  official  recognition  of  the 
Synod. 

That  Peter  I.  was  more  skilful  than  Prince 
Couza,  we  readily  recognise ;  but  this  is  not  the 
question.  IsTor  is  it  a  question  as  to  whether, 
in  the  organisation  of  the  Russian  Church  in 
1721,  imperial  omnipotence  showed  itself  openly, 


or  prudently  veiled  itself  in  a  simulated  garb. 
Was  the  Church  in  1721  stripped  of  her  legi- 
timate authority,  or  not  ?  This  is  the  question. 
Prince  Couza  in  Eoumania  tried  to  usurp  this 
authority.  We  admit  it,  and  subscribe  most 
cheerfully  to  the  judgment  passed  by  the  Pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople,  the  Russian  Synod, 
the  chief  procurator  of  the  Synod,  and  the 
Northern  Post.  But  when  they  come  to  tell  us 
that  in  Russia  the  Church  has  remained  inde- 
pendent, that  it  preserved  all  its  rightful  au- 
thority, we  cannot  accept  this  language,  but 
demonstrate  the  contrary  by  facts. 

It  is  very  easy  to  understand  that  a  Church 
thus  enslaved  ought  to  find  herself  in  a  state 
of  isolation  with  respect  to  the  other  Churches. 
This  M.  Katkoff  has  justly  observed.  Speak- 
ing of  the  different  Churches  of  the  Oriental 
communion,  he  says  they  have  no  bond  among 
them,  no  settled  relationship;  they  are  not 
parts  of  a  whole.  This  would  require  a  com- 
mon organisation,  which  would  bind  together 
their  scattered  members  and  make  of  them  one 
body.  There  can  be  no  unity  where  there  is 
no  centre.  Let  this  centre  be  a  council,  a 
commission,  or  an  individual,  a  centre  is  indis- 
pensable.    Now,  this  centre  does  not  exist. 

Has  it,  at  least,  been  sought  to  supply  the 
place  of  these  regular  relations  by  exchange  of 


^70 


Tlie  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


271 


ideas  ?  Thus,  for  example,  the  different  states 
of  Europe  are  perfectly  independent  of  one  an- 
other,  they  do  not  even  form  a  confederation ; 

yet  they  maintain  among  themselves  diplo- 
matic relations  and  correspondence ;  they  have 
representatives  accredited  one  to  another.  In 
the  Oriental  Church  there  is  nothing  of  the 
kind.  The  Kussian  emperor  is  in  closer  rela- 
tions with  the  emperor  of  China  than  is  the 
Synod  with  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople ; 
and  the  letters  exchanged  in  1865,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Koumain  Church,  are  perhaps  the 
first  instance  of  a  common  consultation  for 
nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  the  Sy- 
nod's existence. 

It  has  justly  been  said  that  the  different 
Churches  of  the  Oriental  communion  may  be 
compared  to  the  defunct  Germanic  Confedera- 
tion, less  the  Frankfort  Diet,  How  is  it  that 
they  have  never  succeeded  in  constituting  a 
kind  of  ecclesiastical  diet,  by  which  all  corre- 
spondence should  be  ultimatumed,  and  which 
should  serve  as  a  bond  to  all  the  Churches, 
which  now  have  become  so  completely  es- 
tranged from  one  another?  This  long  state 
of  isolation,  in  spite  of  all  stereotyped  phrases 
about  the  immobility  and  unchangeableness  of 
the  Oriental  Churches,  could  not  continue  with- 
out the  introduction  of  new  situations,  new 


customs,  and  new  points  of  view ;  hence  arose 
differences,  as  M.  Katkoff  very  well  observes, 
very  perceptible,  and  even  very  profound.     If 
among  the  clergy  or  laity  in  Eussia  there  were 
people  who   would  take   religious   affairs   to 
lieart,  and  feel  a  serious  interest  in  the  Church 
to  which  they  belong,  these  differences  between 
the  several  Churches,  which  pretend  to  form 
but  one,  would  become  the  subject  of  conscien- 
tious study  and  of  graver  discussions.     But  it 
is  not  so.     On  the  contrary,  we  behold  the 
strangest  indifference,  and  apathy  the  most 
complete.      It  needed  that   an  Englishman* 
should  call  attention  to  the  very  different  man- 
ner in  which  the  Constantinopolitan  and  Kus- 
sian Churches  view  the  conditions  necessary  to 
the  validity  of  baptism. 

At  Constantinople  baptism  by  immersion 
only  is  admitted  as  valid.  The  consequence  is 
that,  in  the  eyes  of  that  Church,  Latin  Catho- 
lics and  Protestants  are  not  Christians.  Should 
a  member  of  either  of  them  request  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  Greek  Church,  she  will  impose 
on  him  the  obligation  to  be  baptised.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Eussian  Church  is  more  liberal: 
in  her  view  baptism  by  immersion  is  a  matter 
of  rite,  and  not  of  dogma.      She  recognises 

»  W.  Palmer,  Esq.,  M.  A.,  of  Magdalen  College  Oxon,  the  author 
of  ne  Patriarch  and  U.e  mr,-B^plicB  of  the  hvmile  Mc<m,  &c. 


II 


"T^^^:"^^^^ 


272 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


273 


Latins  and  Protestants  as  validly  baptised,  and 
consequently  as  Christians ;  and  when  the  other 
necessary  conditions  distinguish  candidates, 
they  are  admitted  into  the  Church  free  from 
the  obligation  of  a  new  baptism,  as  was  lately 
seen  in  the  case  of  the  Princess  Dagmar.  If 
the  opinion  of  the  Greeks  were  rightly  founded, 
this  princess,  as  also  all  the  Eussian  empresses 
and  the  spouses  of  the  grand  dukes,  would  not 
be  Christians.  The  question  is  certainly  not 
without  importance ;  and  yet  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  and  the  Eussian  Synod  are  not 

agreed  on  it.* 

This  state  of  separation,  it  is  true,  existed 
when  the  Eussian  Church  had  a  patriarch  at 
her  head ;  but  since  the  creation  of  the  Synod, 
since  the  absorption  of  the  Eussian  Church  by 

*  The  Ecclesiastical  Talk  of  Sept.  17,  1866,  was  seeking  for  a 
means  of  reconciling  on  this  point  the  Greek  and  Russian  Churches. 
Nothing  is  stranger  than  the  idea  it  has  entertained.  If  we  are  to 
believe  the  Eccl.  Talk,  the  Greek  Church  fully  admits  the  validity 
of  baptism  otherwise  than  by  immersion,  but  has  been  obliged  to 
exact  a  new  baptism  from  those  Latins  seeking  admission  into 
her  bosom,  in  order  to  draw  deeper  a  line  of  demarcation  between 
Greeks  and  Latins,  from  fear  of  a  reconciliation ;  and  to  this  end 
has  imagined  nothing  better  than  to  make  the  Greeks  believe  that 
the  Latins  were  not  Christians.  We  should  never  dare  to  attribute 
to  the  Greek  Church  such  a  proceeding.  Lying,  calumny,  pro- 
fanation of  a  sacrament  that  cannot  be  repeated,— all  this,  accord- 
ing to  the  Ecclesiastical  Talk,  the  Greek  Church  would  knowingly 
and  willingly  do !  Reading  this,  we  cannot  believe  our  eyes.  And 
this  journal  is  published  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Academy  of  St.  Pe- 
tersburg, under  the  eyes  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  Synod. 


I 


r 


1i 


the  State,  the  situation  has  been  singularly 
aggravated.   Suppose  an  independent  patriarch 
to  be  to-day  (1872)  at  the  head  of  the  Eussian 
Church,  the  facility  and  rapidity  of  communi- 
cation, the  close  connection  into  which  the  inte- 
rests of  people  the  most  distant  enter, — every- 
thing will  lead  him  into   relations  with  his 
colleague  of  Constantinople.     Nothing  is  more 
simple  than  to  write  a  letter ;  a  few  days  af- 
ter  comes  the   reply,   and  correspondence   is 
established.     Should  any  matter  necessitating 
more  complete  explanation  arise,  he  will  send 
one  of  his  priests  to  Constantinople.    Instead 
of  this,  for  the  Synod  to  write   a  letter  the 
emperor's  authorisation  is  previously  necessary; 
then,  to  produce  unanimity,  and  to  agree  on 
the  drawing  up  and  on  the  choice  of  expres- 
sions, long  deliberations  must  still  ensue.    The 
drawing  up  itself  must  be  submitted  to  the 
ministry ;  difficulties  are  multiplied ;  nor  will 
the  letter  ultimately  be  dispatched,  unless  it 
be  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  minister's  in- 
structions to  the  ambassador.     The  Synod  will 
take  no  step  without  being  checked  by  a  thou- 
sand restraints.     In  vain  it  holds  the  pen ;  its 
writings  will  not  emanate  from  it,  but  from 
the  government.     But  the  government  may 
wish  to  gain  over  the  patriarch  to  its  interests, 
without  allowing  him  to  meddle  with  anything 

T 


lat^wa^.Sf^^^^-jS^f''*^ 


274 


The  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


275 


whatever,  even  as  a  councillor,  on  the  affairs 
of  the  Eussian  Church. 

So  also  as  to  the  relations  of  the  Synod 
with  the  Eussian  bishops.      Once  admit  the 
hypothesis  of  a  patriarch,  and  nothing  is  easier 
than  an  intimate,  familiar,  and  cordial  corre- 
spondence between  him  and  the  bishops.  From 
time  to  time  the  bishops  come  to  visit  him, 
open  their  hearts  to  him,  share  with  him  their 
embarrassments,  the  difficulties  they  encounter, 
the  troubles  they  feel ;   and  so  a  half-hour's 
conversation   can    terminate   an   affair  which 
would  have  demanded  months  of  correspond- 
ence.    With  the  Synod,  naught  but  bureau- 
cracy, papers  passing  from  the  chancery  of  the 
consistory  to  that  of  the  Synod,  a  mere  ex- 
change of  formulas  with   signatures,  —  what 
can  issue  from  thence  ? 

Suppose,  however,  that  the  bishop  has,  with 
great  difficulty,  obtained  permission  to  come  to 
Petersburg,  he  visits  one  after  another  all  the 
members  of  the  Synod,  explains  his  business, 
and  succeeds  (a  thing  unheard  of)  in  bringing 
them  all  to  his  opinion,— the  opposition  of  the 
chancery,  and  especially  that  of  the  chief  pro- 
curator, can  stop  everything.  It  would  seem 
as  though  a  system  had  been  expressly  in- 
vented to  multiply  instead  of  taking  away  dif- 
ficulties,  and  to   prevent   all   action.      Once 


caught  in  this  network,  the  bishops  and  clergy 
lose  all  power  of  judging  the  situation.  They 
do  not  satisfy  themselves  as  to  the  causes  of 
the  servitude  which  enthralls  them.  They  do 
not  understand  that  the  root  of  all  the  mischief 
is  the  absorption  of  the  Church  by  the  State. 

We  here  touch  the  heart  of  the  question. 

Of  what  use  are  all  commissions  and  in- 
quiries on  the  situation  of  the  clergy  ?  They 
never  will  tell  the  truth ;  they  never  can,  even 
if  it  be  that  those  who  compose  them  have  in- 
wardly some  suspicion  of  it.  The  root  of  the 
evil,  we  repeat,  is  the  State's  absorption  of 
the  Church.  Leviteism  and  the  invasion  of 
bureaucracy  into  ecclesiastical  administration 
are  doubtless  very  great  evils,  but  they  are 
the  necessary  consequences  of  the  fundamental 
evil;  and  the  knot  in  which  all  the  mischievous 
fibres  of  the  system  gather  is  the  Synod.  The 
remedy  is  the  abolition  of  the  Synod.  This 
should  be  the  aim  of  every  effort,  the  delenda 
est  Carthago  of  every  discourse. 

The  only  men  in  Eussia  who  understand 
this  are  the  Rascolniks.  '  I  neither  recognise 
absolutely  nor  countenance  your  Synod  and 
the  clergy  of  your  Church,'  said  one  of  these 
sectaries  (Kelsieff,  vol.  i.  p.  220).  Another  ras- 
colnik  of  Yaroslaff  said  to  Count  Steinbeck, 
'  The   Greco  -  Eussian    religion  is   a   profane 


II 


276 


Tlic  Synod. 


Chap.  V. 


worldly  religion ;  it  is  not  based  on  a  true  and 
sincere  conviction ;  it  is  a  government  instru- 
ment for  maintaining  order  and  the  worship  of 

earthly  authority.' 

This  terrestrial  authority  is  designated  An- 
tichrist :  '  The  seal  of  Antichrist,  say  they,  is 
subordination  to  its  authority ;  'tis  the  observ- 
ance, in  Christ's  name,  of  laws  made  in  the 
spirit  of  Antichrist ;  'tis  the  contempt,  the  en- 
slavement of  the  Church'  (Kelsieff,  4th  Book, 
pp.  327-329,  London,  1862).  These  poor  people 
are  doubtless  coarse  and  ignorant,  but  they  are 
sound  in  judgment.  They  have  seen  where 
the  source  and  principle  of  all  the  evils  really 
are ;  long  ago  they  drew  their  conclusions  from 
the  premises  put  forward  by  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  against  Prince  Couza ;  they 
applied  the  canons  he  cited. 

Here  is  the  Synod  of  Eussia,  which  in  1866 
recalls  the  apostolic  canon,  in  virtue  of  which 
a  bishop  guilty  of  having  had  recourse  to  the 
secular  powers  for  his  nomination  is  deposed 
and  excommunicated,  with  all  who  communi- 
cate with  him.  In  thus  speaking,  the  Synod 
justifies  all  the  rascolniks,  who  do  not  wish  to 
hear  anything  of  communion  with  it.  The 
existence  of  the  Synod  is  the  true  cause  of 
rascolnism.  Suppose  the  Kussian  Church  in- 
dependent, and  the  clergy  a  little  educated,  a 


mt.aif.x.tnit^mimmMmmxia'iiitimi'ifiimiwmmmym 


Chap.  V. 


The  Synod. 


277 


quarter  of  a  century  will  not  pass  before  the 
return  of  the  Staroveres  to  the  Church's  com- 
munion. 

To  Avhatever  side  we  turn  our  gaze, — the 
rascol  rending  the  Eussian  Church,  the  isola- 
tion of  this  Church  with  respect  to  other  Ori- 
ental Churches,  Leviteism,  the  encroachment  of 
bureaucracy, — we  perceive  only  consequences 
of  the  absorption  of  the  Church  which  the  State 
has  effected  by  means  of  the  Synod.  The  end 
will  be  the  conviction  that  the  reform  neces- 
sary and  indispensable  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Eussian  Church  is  the  abolition  of  the  Synod. 
From  this  consequence  there  is  no  escape. 

Must,  then,  the  patriarch  be  reestablished  ? 
We  will  say  neither  Yes  nor  No.  An  inde- 
pendent patriarch  at  the  head  of  the  whole 
Eussian  Church  would  be  invested  with  such 
a  power,  and  afford  so  few  guarantees,  that  we 
fully  apprehend  the  fears  which  would  insure 
the  rejection  of  this  project.  Besides,  there 
would  always  exist  a  fear  lest  he  should  be- 
come an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  power,  or 
even  a  spiritual  emperor,  before  whom  the 
temporal  emperor,  the  state  itself,  and  all  the 
populations  foreign  to  the  national  Church, 
would  have  to  be  effaced. 

What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?    If  a  patriarch 
is  wished  at  any  price,  he  must  himself  be  sub- 


278 


The  Synod, 


Chap.  V. 


ject  to  a  higher  authority:  we  have  named  the 
Pope.  If  it  is  not  wished  to  have  a  patriarch 
residing  in  the  country,  the  example  set  by  all 
Catholic  nations  should  be  followed,  and  the 
authority  of  the  Pope — the  fii'st  of  the  patri- 
archs— be  recognised.  There  exist  no  other 
means  of  having  a  Church  that  is  free  without 
being  factious,  and  that  yields  obedience  to 
the  laws  without  suffering  enslavement. 


THE  END. 


LONDON: 
ROBSON  AND  SONS,  PRINTERS,  PANCSliS  ROID,  N.W. 


FE.B 


8  1954 


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947.08 


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